Ninja Tail
by Ohfortheloveofpete
Summary: After a mishap with an interdimensional portal, Lucy Heartfilia and Naruto Uzumaki end up in each other's universes...can they get back home?
1. Chapter 1: The Interdimensional Portal

Ninja Tail

_Guess what! Today I'm going to be making a Fairy Tail and Naruto crossover fic...intrigued? Well, alright then...let's see how this fanfic turns out..._

_I hope you find it to be hilarious...though admittedly this fanfic isn't going to be entirely for laughs, I can tell you that..._

_Chronologically...this takes place during the beginning of Naruto Shippuden...and prior to the Phantom Lord Arc...in other words, Naruto and his friends are about sixteen years old or so while everyone in Fairy Tail is the same age as they've always been...since you know, they never seem to age._

**Chapter 1: The Interdimensional Portal**

The guild members of Fairy Tail were all very excited. Today was going to be the day that they were going to test out an experimental interdimensional portal...or one of them was anyway. According to Makarov, it led all the way to an alternate world.

Sure enough, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy were standing on a couch waiting for the portal to be ready. Of course, it wasn't going to be an easy task. They were all pretty excited.

"I'm rather impressed that Levy was able to build something like this..." noted Lucy.

"She sure is smart, isn't she? She must have an IQ of 300...then again, that's just my estimate." asked Erza.

"I'll say! She curb-stomped me in that Fairy Tail trivia challenge...I still owe Natsu twenty jewels..." noted Gray.

"I have to wonder what's on the other side...is it going to take us into outer space? Is it going to take us into Candyland? Is it going to take us into the wonderful world of Disney?" asked Natsu curiously.

"Your guess is as good as mine." answered the ice mage.

"I just hope that nobody gets hurt using that portal..." questioned Lucy.

"I suppose there could be...accidents..." spoke Erza.

Upon the mentioning of the word "accidents", Happy began to hug Natsu tightly.

"Please don't make me use that portal! I don't wanna die!" exclaimed Happy.

"Relax Happy...nobody's forcing you...though admittedly if we want to get this project on the road we're going to need a test subject..." noted Lucy.

"Are you volunteering, Lucy?" asked Natsu.

"I suppose if nobody else wants to use the portal, I'll give it a shot." explained the blonde.

"Be careful out there!" exclaimed Gray.

Lucy nodded.

Sure enough, Levy announced that the portal was ready.

"Finally! I was getting tired of waiting!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Let's go check it out!" bellowed Happy.

"Wait for me!" replied Gray.

Sure enough, Makarov was presenting the portal to the guildmates. They were all very excited for the occurrance.

"Greetings, my dear guildmates. Today is the day we're going to test out our experimental interdimensional portal...to be honest, it was actually a bit of an accident that this portal was created..." explained Makarov.

"It was?" asked Elfman curiously.

"Let's just say that Levy likes experimenting with magic..." stated the guildmaster.

"Yeah...heh heh..." nodded Levy.

"Any volunteers?" asked Makarov.

Lucy raised her hand.

"Very well. Do us a favor and test the portal out for us, will you?" asked the elderly mage.

Lucy nodded, and went to the interdimensional portal to investigate the strange parallel universe.

Sure enough, she ended up being transferred across dimensions. She had to admit, it was an out-of-world experience.

"I feel dizzy..." noted the blonde.

As it turned out, the interdimensional portal lead to a forest.

"Interesting..." noted Lucy.

Curious, Lucy Heartfilia decided to investigate her surroundings a bit further.

Inevitably, her guildmates would want her to hurry back, so she decided not to stay in the mysterious world for too long.

Unbeknownst to Lucy however, this world happened to be inhabited.

As it turns out, a certain blond-haired ninja by the name of Naruto Uzumaki was taking a stroll in the forest.

Oddly enough, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that something big was going to happen to him today...but he wasn't sure why. Were the Akatsuki going to try to abduct him again? He didn't look forward to being a human sacrifice...

Curious, Naruto looked around him...and discovered that there was a strange portal that had appeared out of nowhere.

"What the-" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Curious, Naruto decided to investigate the mysterious portal to see what was on the other side.

"Interesting..." noted the genin.

Shrugging, he decided it would be best to alert the Fifth Hokage so that she could investigate the matter. For all he knew this could be a threat to national security.

However, at that very moment, Naruto tripped...and he ended up going straight through the portal.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Naruto.

Unfortunately for Lucy, the interdimensional portal only had enough power for one trip and back...and it began to close, much to her surprise.

"No no no no no no!" bellowed Lucy.

The portal immediately disappeared, and the unfortunate girl began to scrape the ground with her bare hands, hoping to salvage what was left of the portal.

But unfortunately, it appeared that she was now stranded in this mysterious world. Digging her way to China wasn't going to bring her back.

Lucy sighed. Makarov did warn her that the portal was experimental.

The only thing that she could do now was to try to investigate her surroundings to see if she could find somebody that could help her...then again, she didn't know anybody other than her guildmates that could conjure a magical portal.

Also, she got the feeling that somebody else had tried using the portal...were they also stranded as well?

"I sure hope that they're doing OK..." noted Lucy.

_Meanwhile..._

As it turned out, the interdimensional portal was responding once again, much to Makarov's delight.

"Yes! The experiment was a success! Watch now as Lucy Heartfilia returns to tell us about this alternate world!" exclaimed Makarov.

"This is going to be good!" bellowed Happy.

"I would imagine so." nodded Natsu.

However, at that very moment, somebody contrary to who they were expecting came out of the portal.

"Oof!" exclaimed Naruto as he fell on the floor.

Immediately, the Fairy Tail guild members gasped in shock. Where was Lucy Heartfilia? And just who was this mysterious fellow who had entered the portal in her stead?

"Where am I?" asked Naruto.

For a moment, Naruto wondered if he had died and gone to heaven. Standing a few feet away from her were several attractive-looking females. Heck, he was even starting to feel attracted to some of the male members of the mysterious group.

There was even an elderly man that reminded him of the Third Hokage...was he somehow related?

However, his thoughts were interrupted when Makarov spoke to him.

"You're not Lucy Heartfilia!" exclaimed Makarov.

"What?!" bellowed Naruto.

"Who are you?! And what have you done to Lucy?!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Yeah! Are you a kidnapper?" asked Happy curiously.

Unsurprisingly, Fairy Tail were all very surprised at the occurrance. They were clearly expecting a girl, not a boy, to say the very least.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Just who were these people?

Shrugging, he decided that it was best to tell them his name so that he could get some answers.

"My name? It's Naruto...Uzumaki." explained the ninja.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" asked Makarov curiously.

Naruto nodded. That was his name, alright.

"Pleased to meet you." spoke the old man.

Unfortunately for Naruto, at that very moment, the interdimensional portal began to close, much to everyone's astonishment.

"Noooo!" screamed the genin as the portal disappeared.

Frantically, he began to scrape the ground with his hands...much like a certain mage had done so before him.

Unfortunately for Naruto, it appeared that not only had he wandered into an alternate world to his own...he was stuck there.

Naruto sighed. Hopefully he would be able to find a way back home...however long that took. His friends were going to miss him.

Levy was rather upset, to say the very least.

"To think we used up so much magic just to get that interdimensional portal running..." noted Levy.

"Is there any way for you to get it running again?" asked Naruto.

"Not for a while..." explained the leader of Shadow Gear.

Naruto sighed.

"What am I going to do?" asked the teenage boy.

Makarov began to think.

"I suppose we could make you an honourary member of Fairy Tail...until we manage to get this sorted out." explained the old man.

"Really? You mean it?!" exclaimed Naruto.

Levy raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure about this? We don't really know anything about his powers and abilities..." explained the researcher.

"I suppose we could have somebody duel him to see how powerful he is...any volunteers?" asked the old man.

Erza raised her hand.

"Very well...Erza, take Naruto to our battling arena for me, will you?" asked Makarov.

Erza nodded.

Naruto's cheeks turned red. He had to admit...Erza was rather attractive.

As Naruto and Erza left, Natsu had to wonder where Lucy was. Was she doing OK?

_Meanwhile..._

Looking around, Lucy noticed that there was a ninja sleeping with his back pressed across a tree...he sure seemed to be a sleepyhead, considering that it was in the middle of the day.

Curious, Lucy decided to wake him up.

"Excuse me...could you give me a hand?" asked the summoner, shaking the sleeping ninja gently.

"Wha-what?" asked the ninja as he woke up.

"Could you tell me where I am?" asked Lucy.

"Hmm? Um, sure...what is your name?" inquired the ninja curiously.

"My name is Lucy...what's yours?" questioned the mage.

"My name? It's Shikamaru..." answered the teenage boy.

"Pleased to meet you...again, could you tell me where I am?" inquired Lucy.

"We're in a forest right outside Konoha, I believe..." explained Shikamaru.

Curious, Lucy looked around, and noticed that there was an enormous city up ahead.

"Yeah...how could I have missed that?" questioned the teenage girl.

"I suppose it happens to the best of us. Now if you excuse me I'm going to go back to my nap..." nodded Shikamaru.

"Can you take me to your leader?" asked Lucy.

Shikamaru sighed. It looked like he wasn't going to be able to go back to Slumberland for a while.

"Fine..." nodded the ninja.

Immediately, Shikamaru began to escort Lucy to Konoha. Thankfully, none of the ANBU eyed her with suspicion.

As it turned out, the Fifth Hokage was in her office...taking a snooze.

Feeling a sense of deja vu, Shikamaru decided to gently wake Tsunade up. Lucy began to wonder how many sleepyheads there were in Konoha.

"Excuse me...Lady Tsunade, we need your assistance." explained the jonin.

"Wha-what?" asked Lady Tsunade curiously.

Curious, Lady Tsunade looked around, and noticed that Shikamaru had a pretty girl with him.

"Is she your girlfriend?" asked Lady Tsunade curiously.

Shikamaru sweatdropped.

"Er, no, I only met her today...she claims to be from some sort of alternate world...though admittedly that claim is dubious." explained the ninja.

"Are you some kind of wizard?" asked Tsunade curiously.

Lucy Heartfilia nodded, causing Shikamaru to sweatdrop.

Immediately, Lucy went to pull out her zodiac keys...only to find that they had mysteriously disappeared.

"What the-my keys! What happened to my keys?!" exclaimed Lucy.

Shikamaru sweatdropped once again.

"Well, at least I have my whip..." noted Lucy as she pulled out her whip.

Shikamaru's face turned pale.

"You're not going to use that to-"

"What? Of course not!" exclaimed the teenage girl.

Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"About where you're from...do you happen to be a fighter? You mentioned something about being a wizard...though personally I'm perplexed that someone like that would actually exist..." asked the Fifth Hokage curiously.

Lucy nodded.

"I happen to be part of a guild called Fairy Tail...I'm the newest recruit in fact." explained the mage.

"Interesting..." noted the Fifth Hokage. Was she really part of a parallel world? Or did she hit herself on the head?

Either way, it looked like she would be useful to Konoha...if they could get her trained, that is.

"Would you mind if we tested our your abilities?" asked Tsunade.

"Sure...but I don't have my keys...I can't really do much without them..." noted Lucy.

"Then show us what you have." explained the Fifth Hokage.

Shrugging, Lucy agreed to let Tsunade test our her combat potential.

"I wonder what happened to my keys..." thought the mage.

_Oh dear...it looks Lucy and Naruto are both stranded in each other's universes...but what happened to Lucy Heartfilia's keys? It looks like something strange happened when Naruto used that interdimensional portal after Lucy did..._

_In the next chapter...Lucy and Naruto's battle prowess is going to get tested...and they're going to go on missions. Hooray!_


	2. Chapter 2: Off To Work

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...we're going to see our heroes in action...that's what you want, right? And yes, our heroes will be undertaking missions...missions for the good of Fiore and for the good of Konoha...sound good? Heh heh...I kill myself sometimes._

**Chapter 2: Off To Work**

"So, this is your battling arena?" asked Naruto curiously as he stepped into the arena.

"Yes...whenever we want to test our our abilities...we pay this arena a visit." explained Makarov.

"Are there any instructions?" asked the ninja.

Makarov handed Naruto the enclosed instruction book.

"Let's see now..." read Naruto.

DO NOT KILL EACH OTHER IN THE ARENA. THAT IS EVIL.

"Right...wouldn't want to be a murderer..." noted the ninja.

DO NOT BLOW UP THE ARENA WITH YOUR MAGIC. THAT IS EVIL.

"OK...I won't do that either." noted Naruto.

DO NOT USE UNFORGIVABLE CURSES ON YOUR OPPONENT. THAT IS EVIL.

"What are unforgivable curses?" inquired the ninja.

"They're magic spells that have been banned by Fairy Tail...for some reason dark guilds love them." explained Makarov.

Makarov handed Naruto a list detailing the spells that were not allowed to be used by Fairy Tail mages while battling in the arena.

"There's a spell that can make people's heads explode?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Yes...we're not allowed to use that spell in the arena since we're not allowed to kill people...besides, it takes forever to clean up." noted Makarov.

"Sheesh..." noted the teenage boy.

Naruto continued reading the instructions.

DO NOT SUMMON AN ARMY OF DEMONS TO LAY WASTE TO YOUR ENEMIES. THAT IS EVIL.

"An army of demons?" asked the boy curiously.

"They'd inevitably lay waste to Fiore..." explained Makarov.

Naruto continued reading the instructions once again.

DO NOT CHEAT IN ARENA MATCHES. THAT IS...BAD SPORTMANSHIP.

"OK, I think I've memorized the rules." explained Naruto.

Makarov nodded, and the ninja stepped into the arena.

Sure enough, there were a lot of people in the audience. Naruto began to feel a bit nervous. Apparently they were all looking forward to this.

Oddly enough, most of these people were those that he had encountered earlier back when he had ended up falling through the interdimensional portal...this naturally included Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Levy.

Curiously enough, as it turned out, Makarov was the announcer.

"Greetings! Today is the day we're going to test our newest recruit's abilities to see how he would fare on a mission...I'm your host and your guildmaster, Makarov!" exclaimed the old man.

"Funny...wasn't he with me a few minutes ago?" inquired Naruto.

"Testing out our abilities is none other than our champion, Erza Scarlet!" exclaimed the old man.

Erza Scarlet waved to the audience as she stepped in the arena.

"Wait, you're their champion?" asked Naruto.

"Pretty much." explained the knight in shining armor.

Naruto sweatdropped. Did he get himself into a fight that he could not possibly win? Then again, this was meant to simply be a test run for his abilities...

Strangely enough, the referee turned out to be none other than Makarov's grandson, Laxus.

"3, 2, 1, fight!" exclaimed Laxus.

"Right then...hit me with your best shot." explained Erza.

"This is going to be fun to watch..." noted Gray.

Shrugging, Naruto decided to summon as many of his clones as he could to help him defeat Erza...which were quite a few indeed.

"Interesting..." noted Erza. Apparently, Naruto had the ability to create copies of himself.

"How do I tell the copies apart?" questioned Natsu.

Gray shrugged. They all appeared to look the same.

Unfortunately for Naruto, as it turned out, Erza was able to cut through the clones like butter. They all exploded into white smoke upon contact with them.

The teenage ninja sighed. He was hoping that they would last a bit longer...but apparently they weren't a match for Erza's swords.

"Right then...anything else?" asked the magic knight.

Curious, Naruto felt something in his pocket.

"Huh?" asked the teenage boy.

He immediately reached into his pocket, and discovered that there was a golden key inside.

"How did that get there?" inquired Naruto.

Erza raised an eyebrow. That golden key looked surprisingly identical to the zodiac keys Lucy used to summon her Celestial Spirits.

Unfortunately, this caused Happy to believe that Naruto was a key thief, and he immediately decided to take action.

"Yah!" exclaimed Happy.

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

Immediately, Happy attached himself to Naruto's face.

"Get off!" demanded the teenage boy.

"Give those zodiac keys back to Lucy, you bandit!" bellowed Happy.

Laxus raised an eyebrow.

"Happy, didn't you read the instructions before you came to spectate the match?" asked Laxus.

"Huh?" inquired Happy.

Laxus immediately handed Happy the instruction pamphlet, who promptly detached himself from Naruto's face.

NO AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION. THAT IS CRAZY.

Happy sweatdropped.

"But he's a key thief!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"I'm innocent! They just showed up in my pocket out of nowhere..." explained Naruto.

Levy raised an eyebrow.

Curious, she decided to head back to the interdimensional portal room to see if she could investigate the matter further.

"Where are you going?" asked Mirajane.

"I need to investigate the interdimensional portal...I'm starting to think that there's something at work here..." explained Levy.

"OK..." answered the attractive mage.

Deciding to put the golden key back into his pocket so that he could use it earlier, Naruto decided that he wanted to show off to the audience.

Shrugging, he decided to use his Sexy Jutsu.

"Here I go!" exclaimed Naruto.

Immediately, Naruto used his Sexy Jutsu to transform into a woman wearing a skimpy devil's outfit...which caused the audience to gasp in shock.

Happy, who was standing a few feet away from Naruto, ended up fainting.

"My nose is bleeding!" screamed Natsu.

"Mine too!" bellowed Gray.

Sure enough, Laxus was doing his best to look away, while Makarov's face had turned pale as a sheet.

However, much to Naruto's surprise, Erza did not seem phased at all.

"Trying to seduce me, are you? Well, two can play at that game!" exclaimed the magical knight.

Suddenly, Erza used her Requip Armor to swap armors. As it turns out, she had chose to put on her Seduction Armor.

Immediately, the sorceress began to pose seductively for Naruto.

Once again, Gray and Natsu's noses began to bleed.

"I think I'm going to need to go to the hospital...I can't stop the bleeding!" exclaimed Gray.

"I feel faint..." answered Natsu.

Immediately, Naruto dropped his jaw in shock, and transformed back into his original form.

Shortly afterwards, he collapsed on the floor.

"I can't believe it...I got beaten at my own game..." said the ninja.

Naruto was paralyzed with shock.

Immediately, the referee began to count to ten.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!" exclaimed Laxus.

Suffice to say, Naruto was down for the count.

"And the winner is...Erza!" bellowed the lightning mage.

Erza smiled in satisfaction while a stretcher came to pick up Naruto.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, you want me to whip this dummy?" asked Lucy.

"That's the idea, yes." nodded Tsunade.

Immediately, Lucy whipped the dummy as hard as she could, causing it to collapse.

"Not too bad." noted the Fifth Hokage.

Another dummy appeared to take the destroyed dummy's place.

"Anything else you'd like to show us?" asked Tsunade.

"I'd be able to show off a lot more if I still had my keys..." noted Lucy.

Suddenly, she felt the strange urge to try creating a copy of herself.

Shrugging, Lucy decided to give it a shot...and much to her surprise, she succeeded.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the mage.

Sure enough, she had created an identical clone of herself.

"Funny, it feels like I'm looking at myself in the mirror..." noted the teenage girl.

Curious, Lucy decided to see if her clone would follow her commands...which she did.

Once again, she managed to destroy a dummy with the clone's assistance, who disappeared shortly afterwards.

As before, another dummy appeared.

"Hmm..." thought Lucy. Was there anything else she could without her keys?

She suddenly began to feel the urge to rub her hands together.

"First the clone, and now this...hmm..." inquired the mage.

Shrugging, she decided to follow her instinct once again.

Much to her surprise, a ball of blue energy began to appear in her hands.

"What the-" said Lucy.

Tsunade (who had a moment ago been drinking a delicious smoothie) spat out her drink in surprise.

Shrugging, Lucy decided to toss the strange ball of energy at the dummy...which annihilated it.

"Sheesh..." noted the girl.

Lucy began to scratch her head. Ever since she had used that interdimensional portal, she had been feeling rather strange.

But on the plus side, she did feel a lot stronger than before, so at least that was something.

"So how did the training go?" asked Shikamaru.

Tsunade explained what Lucy had managed to pull off.

"She used the Rasengan?!" exclaimed the ninja.

"I'm as impressed as you are..." explained Tsunade.

Lucy sweatdropped. Just how did she suddenly get so strong?

"Did that interdimensional portal affect my body or something?" inquired the mage.

"Well, I think your training has gone well...would you like to go on a mission?" explained Tsunade.

"A mission?" asked Lucy curiously.

Shikamaru immediately escorted Lucy to the mission board where she could accept missions.

"You know, it's funny..." explained the mage.

"What is?" asked Shikamaru.

"There's a mission board just like this back at my guild...that happen to have letter ranks just like these..." explained Lucy.

"Oh..." realized the shadow ninja.

"Yeah...it's weird...then again, I've been having a pretty weird day." noted the mage.

"I would imagine so." nodded Shikamaru.

Immediately, he began to yawn.

"Well, time for my afternoon nap..." noted the ninja as he looked for a bed.

"Hmm...what should I choose?" questioned Lucy.

Shrugging, she decided to do some D-Rank Missions...which as it turned out, were rather trivial tasks.

After scrubbing a toilet, mopping a floor, watering some plants, painting a wall, and looking after a dog (which belonged to a certain ninja that liked to wear a coat), Lucy decided she wanted something more challenging.

"I guess I'll take a C-Rank Mission..." noted Lucy.

As it turned out, there was a wanted poster on the mission board which featured a mugshot of a wanted criminal.

Apparently, his name was Takeshi, and he had been throwing kunai at innocent people for kicks.

"What's a kunai?" inquired Lucy.

Immediately, Lucy Heartfilia noticed that there was a nearby handbook detailing what a ninja needed to know.

"So...kunai are knives? That makes sense..." noted the mage.

Putting away the handy ninja handbook where she found it, Lucy Heartfilia decided to hunt him down.

According to the mugshot, he had black hair and was wearing a black shirt that read "I Being Evil" with a heart between the I and Being as well as a pair of black pants that were stained with blood. He also tended to smile a lot. Was he some sort of psycho?

Strangely enough, he happened to be right outside the building where Lucy had managed to obtain her mission.

"How ironic..." thought Lucy.

Unfortunately for Lucy, Takeshi noticed her first.

"I'm going to kill you!" squealed the deranged maniac.

Immediately, he tossed a kunai at Lucy's face.

Thankfully, he missed by a country mile.

In retaliation, Lucy began to whip him into submission.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" exclaimed Takeshi.

Unfortunately, he managed to push Lucy over, and he pulled out another kunai to stab Lucy in her beautiful face.

"I'm going to stab you in the face!" squealed the psycho.

"Let's hope not..." thought Lucy.

Fortunately, she managed to grab onto his arm, and began to charge up a Rasengan.

"Let go of my arm so I can kill you!" bellowed Takeshi.

"Since you asked nicely...no." answered Lucy.

Lucy Heartfilia hit Takeshi with her Rasengan, and he immediately fell on the floor, unconscious.

She then dragged the wanted criminal to Tsunade's office, who was rather happy to see him.

"Thank goodness...now he won't hurt any more innocent people..." noted Tsunade.

Lucy Heartfilia smiled in satisfaction. Lucky for her, she was getting paid for her services. Then again, she was already rich in her world.

However, Tsunade pointed out something to her that she hadn't noticed.

"By the way, you might want to wash that dress of yours..." explained the Fifth Hokage.

"Huh?" asked Lucy.

Curious, Lucy Heartfilia looked down, and discovered that Takeshi had pushed her into a mud puddle during their scuffle.

"Well, at least my clothing didn't get ripped for a change..." shrugged Lucy.

Immediately, she went to the nearest clothline so that she could wash her dress.

Thankfully, she was wearing her pink tube top and a pair of shorts underneath, so she didn't have to worry about wandering around Konoha in her underwear...though she was probably going to get some fanboys nonetheless.

After washing it for a few minutes to make sure the mud was gone, Lucy Heartfilia put her dress on the clothesline.

Suddenly, a young boy approached her.

"Hey there, Naruto! Is this some sort of new sexy jutsu of yours? You look awesome!" exclaimed the boy.

Lucy Heartfilia's cheeks turned red. Did he just call her sexy?

"Can I help you?" asked the girl.

"I'm impressed! You've got to teach me it some time!" bellowed the preteen boy.

"What is your name?" asked the summoner mage curiously.

Konohamaru sweatdropped.

"Don't you remember? My name is Konohamaru! You should know that! I'm your apprentice!" bellowed the ninja.

"About that...I think you've gotten me mixed up with someone else." inquired Lucy.

Konohamaru raised an eyebrow.

"If you're not Naruto, then where is he? I've been looking all over for him!" exclaimed Naruto's apprentice.

"I'm afraid he's somewhere far far away..." explained Lucy.

"Really? Then let me know where I can find him! I've been looking all over Konoha!" bellowed Konohamaru.

"Sorry to hear that." answered the mage.

Suddenly, Konohamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Wait a minute...if you're not Naruto, then why do you have his jinchuriki mark on your stomach?" asked the apprentice.

"Huh?" inquired Lucy.

Curious, Lucy Heartfilia looked into the river she had used to wash her dress a few minutes ago, and discovered she now had a jinchuriki mark on her abdomen.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed the mage. Was the interdimensional portal working its magic again?

Curious, Lucy decided to consult Tsunade on the matter to see what was going on.

_Well, this is a bit of a twist, isn't it? It looks like Lucy is now the jinchuriki for a certain ferocious fox...of course, that means Naruto's finally free of the horrible curse...though he's probably going to have mixed feeling about it._

_In the next chapter, we're going to learn a bit more about the interdimensional portal that Lucy and Naruto have both used...are you curious?_


	3. Chapter 3: Magical Oddities

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, we're going to learn a bit about the interdimensional portal as I promised...and why Lucy Heartfilia now has Naruto's nine-tailed fox and why Naruto Uzumaki now has Lucy's keys._

_Sound good?_

**Chapter 3: Magical Oddities**

After recovering from Erza's Seduction Armor, Naruto left Fairy Tail's infirmary, where as it turned out, his new friends were waiting for him.

"Are you OK?" asked Natsu.

"I have to admit...Erza's seduction armor really did a number on you..." noted Gray.

"Yeah...I'm starting to wonder if I could have died." nodded Naruto.

"My name is Natsu. Pleased to meet you!" exclaimed the fire dragon slayer, shaking Naruto's right hand.

"And my name is Gray." said the ice mage, shaking Naruto's left hand.

"Thank you. You should probably know what my name is, right? I said it out loud in front of everyone since your guildmaster asked so nicely..." explained Naruto.

"It's true, you did..." noted Gray.

"Hey there." said Erza.

Immediately, Naruto began to beg Erza for mercy.

"Oh my gosh! Please don't use that seduction armor on me again, Erza! I nearly went insane!" bellowed Naruto.

"Sorry about that..." apologized Erza. Was her seduction armor really that effective?

"Then again I did use that sexy jutsu to try to seduce you..." noted the ninja.

"True..." noted the magic knight.

Immediately, the ninja began to wonder why Erza was immune to it.

"Hmm..." thought Naruto. Was there something about her that she wished to tell him?

"So, is there anything you would like to tell us about yourself?" asked the knight.

"Well, I have a nine-tailed fox living inside me..." said Naruto.

Gray and Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" asked Gray.

"Yeah...it's right inside my stomach...there's a mark on my stomach so that you can see where it is..." explained Naruto.

Immediately, Naruto lifted his shirt to show them his jinchuriki mark.

However, much to his surprise, his new friends did not seem to notice it.

"Um, Naruto...I don't see any mark like that." explained Erza.

"Huh?" asked the teenage boy.

Curious, Naruto decided to look in a mirror...and much to his astonishment, the jinchuriki mark had disappeared.

"Where did it go?" asked the ninja.

Immediately, Naruto began to wonder where the nine-tailed fox had gone. Had it somehow left his body and gone elsewhere?

If so, he began to wonder if it was rampaging at a populated city...he shuddered at the very thought.

"Where is my nine-tailed fox?!" bellowed Naruto.

Gray and Natsu sweatdropped.

"Take it easy, Naruto...what's so important about it? Is it your pet?" inquired Erza.

"It could destroy an entire city! It's a bloodthirsty monster! I should know...I've had it inside my body for my whole life...and it wants to kill me!" exclaimed the ninja.

"OK..." answered the knight in shining armor. That certainly didn't sound good.

At that very moment, Makarov came in.

"Guildmaster!" exclaimed Natsu and Gray.

"Naruto, can Levy and I talk to you?" asked Makarov.

"Sure..." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, Naruto followed Makarov to where the interdimensional portal was.

"Did you get it operating again?" asked the genin.

"Not yet unfortunately..." answered Levy.

"Aww..." complained Naruto.

"However, I did manage to gather some information about it..." explained the intelligent mage.

"Hmm?" inquired the ninja.

"Apparently, if you use the same interdimensional portal as someone else at around the same time...you'll acquire some of their traits...as well as their abilities." explained Levy.

"Huh?" asked Naruto curiously.

Makarov gave Naruto a profile of Lucy Heartfilia.

"Hmm...funny, she happens to look a lot like me..." noted the ninja curiously.

"I actually didn't notice that before..." acknowledged the guildmaster.

Naruto immediately noticed that Lucy specialized in summon magic and wielded several zodiac keys...which naturally explained what was in his pocket.

"So...what you're saying is...I'm going to become her spitting image?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Not necessarily..." answered Levy. "But you're going to have more in common with her than a stranger, I can tell you that."

"I see..." nodded Naruto.

Curious, Naruto noticed that there was now a strange mark on the back of his right hand.

"This is freaking me out..." noted the ninja.

"I suppose you're going to have to spend some time getting used to it..." noted Levy.

"Yeah..." nodded the genin.

"Does this mean he's officially a member of Fairy Tail now?" asked the genius mage.

"I...guess." nodded Makarov. What else was he going to do now that he had the official guild mark on the back of his palm? Tell him that he was some sort of imposter?

Naruto smiled. At least now he could help Fairy Tail out for a change...though admittedly he began to wonder how Konoha was doing without him.

"I sure hope it hasn't been thrown in chaos...did Lucy Heartfilia somehow inherit my tailed beast?" noted the genin.

If so, he was starting to feel sorry for her.

_Meanwhile..._

"Excuse me! Fifth Hokage! I've got something I need to tell you!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Tsunade.

"It's this mark that's appeared on my stomach...I think there's something sinister about it..." explained the mage.

"Let me see..." explained the Fifth Hokage.

Immediately, Lucy showed Tsunade her stomach, who seemed a bit surprised.

"Oh dear...that's the same exact seal that Naruto had after his parents sealed the nine-tailed fox inside him..." explained the leader of Konoha.

"What?" inquired Lucy curiously.

"You claim that he went into the interdimensional portal right after you did, right?" asked the Fifth Hokage.

"Yes..." explained the mage.

"Well, apparently you've inherited his tailed beast because of it..." spoke Tsunade.

"His what?" inquired Lucy.

"Basically, you have a giant monster fox inside you." explained the Fifth Hokage.

"This is bad..." noted the mage.

"Not to worry though...you should be safe...so long as you keep that fox inside of you..." explained Tsunade.

"How do I do that?" asked Lucy.

"Well, that seal was designed specifically to keep it in...as long as you stay relaxed, it shouldn't weaken." said the Fifth Hokage.

"That's a relief..." noted the summoner mage.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" asked Tsunade.

"That's it, really." spoke Lucy.

At that very moment, somebody started knocking on the door.

"Should I let them in?" asked the teenage girl curiously.

Tsunade nodded.

Immediately, Lucy Heartfilia opened the door.

As it turned out, it was none other than Hinata Hyuga. She looked rather panic-stricken, and her face was even paler than usual.

"Lady Tsunade! This is an emergency!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Does it involve Naruto?" asked Tsunade curiously.

"Yes it does! It's as if he's completely disappeared off the face of the earth!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Yeah...about that...I'm afraid he literally has disappeared off the face of the earth." explained Lucy.

"What?!" bellowed Hinata.

"He used an interdimensional portal...and well, it disappeared." continued the mage.

"He used an interdimensional portal?!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Yep...I'm afraid he's going to be stuck in my world for a while..." said Lucy.

Hinata Hyuga fainted. Apparently, the idea of Naruto being trapped in an alternate dimension was too much for her.

"Oh dear..." noted Lucy. Was she going to be alright?

Fortunately, two helpful medical ninja picked up Hinata and put her on a stretcher to take her to the infirmary.

"I hope I didn't give her a heart attack..." noted the mage. She was starting to feel rather guilty.

"That was Hinata Hyuga...Naruto's known her since they were children." explained Tsunade.

"Gosh..." noted the mage.

"Is there any way for us for you to get home?" inquired the Fifth Hokage.

"I suppose you could do that if you found a way to make an interdimensional portal..." explained Lucy.

"I suppose I could work on a jutsu like that..." answered Tsunade.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Lucy.

Immediately, Lucy Heartfilia left the Fifth Hokage's office.

"Well, hopefully I can find a way back to my world...however long that takes." she thought. Personally she began to wonder if her friends were trying to bring her back.

"I would like to think they're doing that..." explained Lucy.

Of course, she did have to worry about the nine-tailed fox that was now inside her. Was it going to emerge from her body and cause chaos in Fiore? She was inevitably going to have to tell her guildmates about it if she ever got back to her guild.

"The Fifth Hokage did say that it should stay inside my body so long as I stay relaxed..." said Lucy.

"I'm a lady...I can keep my emotions under control...right?"

Shrugging, she decided to head back to the mission board to see if there were any more missions...

...when suddenly she noticed that Shikamaru was sitting at a table nearby with a bored look on his face.

Curious, she decided to go visit him to see if she could cheer him up.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Lucy.

"I don't have somebody to play shogi with today..." said Shikamaru.

"Really? That's too bad." noted the mage.

"Yeah..." nodded the jonin.

"Who are your friends, anyway?" asked Lucy curiously.

Shikamaru immediately handed Lucy a picture showing her his teammates and his teacher...which in this case were Ino, Choji, and Asuma Sarutobi respectively.

"Those are your friends?" asked Lucy.

"Yeah...the blonde is named Ino...the boy in the red coat is named Choji...and the man standing with them is my sensei, Asuma Sarutobi." explained Shikamaru.

"That's good to know...but where are they? You said that they were all too busy to play with you..." inquired the jinchuriki.

"Well, Ino's off shopping, Choji's at an eating contest...and my sensei's off on a date with his girlfriend." said the teenage boy.

"His girlfriend?" asked Lucy.

"He's on a date with Kurenai...who oddly enough happens to be a jonin as well." explained Shikamaru.

"Does she have her own team of ninja too?" inquired the genin.

"Yeah...though ironically enough, now that I think of it... two of them happened to be boys and only one of them was a girl...weird..." noted Shikamaru.

"That is kind of funny..." spoke Lucy.

"I know..." nodded Shikamaru.

Suddenly, Lucy had an idea.

"Do you want me to play shogi with you?" inquired the mage.

"Huh? Um, sure...you'll need to know how to play though." explained Shikamaru.

Thankfully, the shadow ninja happened to have an instruction book on hand.

"Interesting..." noted Lucy.

After memorizing how to play Shogi, Lucy and Shikamaru began to play with each other.

Much to the latter's surprise, Lucy proved to be a challenging opponent.

"Are you sure this is your first time playing?" asked Shikamaru.

"Maybe I'm a fast learner?" questioned Lucy.

"Maybe..." answered the ninja.

Shikamaru and Lucy kept at it for a while, both taking control of their opponent's pieces and using them against each other.

But eventually...

...Lucy Heartfilia came on top.

"Yes!" cheered Lucy.

"Wow...you actually managed to beat me..." spoke Shikamaru.

"Do you want to play another game?" asked the mage.

"Actually, I think I've got news to tell to my friends..." explained the jonin.

"Hmm?" inquired Lucy.

"Nobody's beaten me at shogi before..." continued Shikamaru.

"What?" inquired the summoner mage curiously.

"I suppose I shouldn't be complaining though...the game was starting to get a bit boring." noted the shadow ninja.

"Wow..." murmured Lucy.

As it turned out, Ino and Choji weren't far away...in fact, they appeared to be having some sort of picnic.

"This ramen is delicious..." noted Choji.

"It sure is a nice day today, isn't it?" questioned Ino.

"It sure is." nodded the Akimichi clan member.

Immediately, Shikamaru ran up to them. Shrugging, Lucy decided to follow him.

"Hey there, Shikamaru! How are you doing today?" inquired Ino curiously.

Choji continued slurping the ramen noodles...but he waved to Shikamaru nonetheless.

"I got beaten at a game of shogi..." explained Shikamaru.

Choji spat out some ramen sauce.

"What?! That's impossible!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"You've got to be kidding me! You're like a wizard at that game!" bellowed Ino.

"Well, there's a first time for everything." explaioned Shikamaru.

"Who managed to pull it off?!" bellowed Choji.

"Oh...that...it's my new friend, Lucy." said the jonin.

"Hi?" asked Lucy curiosly.

Choji and Ino gasped in astonishment.

"You must be a supergenius or something!" bellowed Ino.

"Are you some sort of goddess?" asked Choji.

Lucy sweatdropped.

"I guess I've finally found somebody that can rival me at Shogi..." noted Shikamaru.

"Yeah...I guess..." questioned the summoner mage.

Now that she thought of it, her guildmates did say that she was rather smart...did she really have a genius IQ?

"Hmm..." thought Lucy.

Curious, she noticed that Choji was eating some ramen noodles...and all of a sudden, she got the urge to try them.

"Can I have some of those?" asked the Fairy Tail mage.

Choji nodded.

Immediately, Lucy Heartfilia began to eat some of the noodles...and found them to be delicious!

"Oh my gosh! Do you know where I can find some more?" asked Lucy.

"Yes...just look for a restaurant." explained Ino.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the mage.

"Gosh...who would have thought that she would love ramen so much?" inquired Choji.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Funny, wasn't that Naruto's favorite food?" asked the shadow ninja.

Ino raised an eyebrow.

"I know...weird." questioned Ino.

_Meanwhile..._

After Makarov had officially accepted him as a member of Fairy Tail (or at least until he could find a way home), Naruto decided it was time to do some missions of Fairy Tail.

Oddly enough, they happened to much like the missions back in Konoha.

"Deja vu..." thought the ninja.

For some reason, as it turned out, the world of Fiore had been infested with beasts as of late...ranging from goblins, ogres, orcs, trolls, and the like.

Then again, he did seem to be in some sort of fairy-tale world, considering that everybody and their mother in said world could use magic, him included.

"Sheesh..." questioned Naruto.

Shrugging, he decided to start out with the goblins...since they were apparently on a threat when they gathered together in large numbers.

Sure enough, he spotted a goblin making off with a man's wallet.

"Hey!" bellowed the unfortunate man.

The goblin laughed, and began to run away.

Thankfully, Naruto was able to catch him using one of his clones.

"Thanks." said the man, who gave Naruto some jewels.

"You're welcome." noted the ninja.

Curious, he began to wonder if they had a village somewhere where they came up with all their evil plans...then again, according to the creature compendium book he found next to the mission board, goblins were rather dumb.

As it turned out, one of the missions requested that he destroy one of their villages.

"Sounds rather simple..." questioned Naruto.

Immediately, the ninja began to look for one of them. How hard could finding one possible be?

"I have to admit, it's nice having a new career...though I'm already starting to miss my old one..." noted Naruto.

Hopefully, he would be able to get back home soon before he got too homesick.

"Well, off to work I go." said the ninja.

_Surprise surprise! Lucy's managed to defeat Shikamaru at his own game...then again, Erza managed to do the same with Naruto...so..._

_In the next chapter...well, we're going to see some more humor...but at the same time we're also going to see something scary..._

_Intrigued?_


	4. Chapter 4: A Mysterious Visitor

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, well, we're going to see Naruto destroy a goblin village...hopefully the little buggers will leave Fiore be for a while..._

_Also, Lucy and Shikamaru are going to have an...accident. Heh heh._

_And yes, something scary is going to happen in this chapter...you've been warned._

**Chapter 4: A Mysterious Visitor**

As it turned out, there was a goblin village located near the Fairy Tail guild hall.

"What are they up to?" questioned Naruto curiously.

Apparently, they were planning to invade Fiore so that they could pillage it.

"That's not good..." thought the boy. Why did goblins hate the citizens of Fiore so much? Was it something they did?

He usre hoped that they could settle their differences one day.

"There's got to be something I could do about all this..." said Naruto. The less goblins attacking Fiore, the better.

Curious, Naruto decided to pull out one of the keys that Lucy Heartfilia had generously provided him when she used the same interdimensional portal as he did. One of them would able to do the trick, right?

"Let's see now..." said the ninja.

Immediately, he noticed that this particular key had a crest on it. with two parallel waves stamped on its bow. The blade of the key happened to be shaped just like a mermaid tail.

Shrugging, he decided to try out one of the golden keys to see if he could summon anything.

Curious, Naruto noticed that on the back of the key it read "Open The Gate Of The Water Bearer, Aquarius."

"Is this some sort of summoning chant?" asked the ninja curiously.

By the looks of it, was.

"Here goes nothing." said Naruto.

Naruto recited what it said on the back of the key, and much to his surprise, one of Lucy's summons appeared...in this case, it was Aquarius.

Noticing how attractive his summon looked, Naruto's cheeks began to turn red.

"Lucy's a lucky girl..." thought Naruto.

Unfortunately, Aquarius was not amused with him looking at her that way.

She immediately slapped Naruto in the face.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the ninja, who began rubbing his cheek.

"Pervert..." said the water summon.

"I can't help it! My sensei is a pervert! Girls mean everything to him! I inherited it from him!" screamed Naruto.

"Maybe I should have a talk with him then..." questioned Aquarius.

"I'm afraid he's all the way in an alternate world..." explained Naruto.

"What?" inquired the water summon.

"Anyways...can you give me a hand? I need to destroy this village so that the goblins don't terrorize Fiore..." explained Naruto.

"Why should I?" inquired the water summon.

At that very moment, Aquarius noticed that there was a goblin next to her...that happened to be drooling.

Furious, Aquarius punched the goblin in the face, knocking him out cold.

"OK, you have me convinced." said the mermaid.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. Was that really all it took?

Aquarius immediately summoned a tidal wave...that flooded the goblin village and brought the goblins to their knees.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Naruto.

"You're welcome...and just to let you know, I already have a boyfriend." explained Aquarius.

"No wonder..." said the ninja.

Aquarius slapped Naruto in the face once more.

"Oww..." said the unfortunate genin.

The mermaid then disappeared in a surge of yellow light.

"Well, off to tell my guildmates that the mission was a success." noted Naruto.

Much to his delight, Naruto ended up getting paid...with jewels.

"Hmm...I wonder what I should buy with these..." questioned the ninja.

At that very moment, his guildmates came to visit him.

"Hey there!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Was the mission a success?" inquired Erza.

"Yes, it was...I summoned a mermaid and she flooded the entire village..." explained the ninja.

"Why are there so many goblins in Fiore, anyway?" questioned Gray.

"Yeah...I know..." nodded Natsu.

"Good to see you're helping to get rid of them..." noted Erza.

"Heh heh...yeah..." nodded Naruto.

At that very moment, Cana came in.

"Hey there! Did you hear the news?" asked the alcohol lover curiously.

"What is it?" asked Erza curiously.

"We have a new recruit..." explained the card mage.

"Interesting..." spoke the knight in shining armor.

Curious, Naruto, Erza, Gray, and Natsu began to investigate. Sure enough, the newest recruit for Fairy Tail was standing next to several other Fairy Tail guild members.

Suddenly, Happy attached himself to Naruto's face again.

"Give those keys back to Lucy!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"I'm innocent! Ask Levy if you don't believe me!" bellowed the genin.

Curious, Happy decided to ask Levy on the matter.

As it turned out, this recruit happened to be female, and was dressed in purple robes. She had black hair and orange eyes.

"Greetings..." said the newest recruit.

"What is her name?" asked Naruto curiously.

"It's Chiyoye..." explained Levy.

"Pleased to meet you..." spoke the ninja as he shook her hand.

Oddly, Naruto felt a sense of dread as he did so...was she hiding something from him?

"This is Naruto. He's our second-newest recruit...who happens to be from an alternate world...I really need to be more careful with interdimensional magic..." spoke Levy.

"It's OK, Levy..." answered Naruto.

Oddly enough, the genin noticed Chiyoye smiling when she said that...causing him to raise an eyebrow.

Shortly afterwards, the mysterious mage headed to her personal chambers.

"Hmm..." thought Naruto.

Shrugging, he decided that he wanted to take a nap...when he realized that he did not yet have a place to call his own.

Curious, he decided to consult the guildmaster on the subject.

"Excuse me..." said Naruto.

"Hmm?" inquired Makarov.

"I think I'm going to need a place to stay until we manage to get the interdimensional portal fixed..." explained the ninja.

"Well, so long as you don't go around trashing the place...I suppose you could use Lucy's apartment..." said the guildmaster.

"Really?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Yeah...just tell the landlady I sended you and what's currently happening..." explained Makarov.

Naruto nodded.

Thankfully, Lucy's landlady was friendly towards the ninja and allowed him to stay at Lucy's residence until things were straightened out.

"I have to admit...she sure has a nice place." noted the ninja. Personally he wished that he had an apartment like this.

Shrugging, he decided to lie in bed and think about what was currently happening.

"I have to admit, this has been a rather crazy day." noted Naruto.

He began to wonder how his friends were doing without him...they certainly were going to miss him, weren't they?

"I hope they're doing OK..." thought the genin.

He also began to wonder how his interdimensional partner was doing...was she adapting to a new world like he was?

"I feel guilty for getting her into this..." noted Naruto.

Hopefully she could go back to her world and he could go back to his soon.

_Meanwhile..._

After pigging out on ramen, Lucy decided to play another game of Shogi with Shikamaru. She had to admit, she had enjoyed her last game with him, even if she hadn't actually played that particular game before.

"Your move." said Lucy.

"Fine by me." answered Shikamaru as he moved one of his pieces.

Once again, she proved to be a surprisingly difficult opponent for him, though this time he managed to win.

"Good game. How about another?" asked Shikamaru.

"Sure!" exclaimed Lucy.

However, as it turned out, they had more pressing matters at the moment than a game of Shogi.

Suddenly, somebody threw a kunai at the table they were playing Shogi at.

"Huh?" inquired Lucy.

Curious, Lucy looked around, and sighed.

"Not you again..." said the summoner mage. Once again, she was going to have to take down a bloodthirsty lunatic.

As it turned out, it was none other than Takeshi...despite the fact that Lucy had turned him into the authorities not too long ago. How did he manage to escape? Did he go down a sewer pipe? Did he dig his way out? Did he bribe a guard?

"I'm going to kill you...and your boyfriend too!" exclaimed Takeshi. By the looks of it, he wanted revenge.

Lucy sweatdropped. Did he just say that Shikamaru was her boyfriend? At the moment she was still single.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, Takeshi had brought paper bombs with him this time.

"I'm going to blow you to bits!" squealed the psychopath.

Immediately, Takeshi threw a paper bomb to blow Lucy and Shikamaru to smithereens...who promptly jumped out of the way.

"What is this guy's problem?" asked Shikamaru.

"I wish I knew." answered the mage. Something told her that he was in need of some serious therapy.

"Should we take him to the asylum?" asked Lucy.

"Definitely." nodded Shikamaru. The sooner he got help, the better.

Immediately, the Nara clan member used his Shadow Imitation Technique to restrain Takeshi, much to his frustration.

"Let go of my shadow so I can kill you!" exclaimed the ferocious ninja.

"Do we have him?" asked Lucy.

"I think so. Attack him while he's still restrained, will you? I can't maintain this jutsu forever." nodded Shikamaru.

Lucy suddenly felt the urge to press her palm against the ground.

"Is this another jutsu?" inquired the summoner curiously.

Deciding to give in to her instinct, she did so, causing a variety of animals to appear.

"Hmm?" inquired the summoner mage curiously. Apparently, she didn't need her keys to summon things anymore.

As it turned out, the animals were all hers to command, as they all gave her a military salute.

Shrugging, Lucy ordered them to attack Takeshi...which they did.

"Uh-oh..." thought the deranged ninja as the animals began to approach him.

Immediately, squirrels began to enter the maniac's pants.

"I've got squirrels in my pants! And they're eating my underwear!" screamed Takeshi.

Lucy's cheeks turned red.

A wolf immediately sank his teeth into Takeshi's leg.

"My leg!" bellowed the ninja.

A bird began to peck Takeshi in the face.

"Get it off me!" bellowed the ninja.

"They sure are causing him a lot of pain, aren't they?" asked Shikamaru.

"I would imagine so..." noted Lucy. She was actually starting to feel a bit sorry for him. At this rate he was going to have to go to the hospital...then again, he probably needed to visit a doctor to begin with.

A spider hopped on top of Takeshi's hair, causing him to scream like a little girl.

"Help me!" screamed the helpless shinobi.

Lucy and Shikamaru sweatdropped.

A beaver sank his teeth into Takeshi's other leg.

"The pain!" exclaimed the ninja.

A turtle...well, he didn't actually do anything to Takeshi, oddly enough. But he did appear to be laughing at his expense.

To make a long story short, the evil ninja fainted, as he could not tolerate having so many animals attack him at once.

"That's a relief..." noted Shikamaru as he dispeled his shadow imitation technique.

"Sheesh...I feel kind of woozy..." spoke Lucy.

"That's because you need to use your blood to summon animals." explained the jonin.

"Oh...heh heh." said the mage. Apparently, she was going to need to use that in moderation so she didn't pass out.

Suddenly, due to her lightheadedness, Lucy Heartfilia lost her balance and fell...

...and ended up kissing Shikamaru Naru on the lips, much to their astonishment.

Immediately, realizing what had happened, Lucy distanced herself from the shadow ninja.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that, I swear!" apologized Lucy. What had she done?

Fortunately, Shikamaru was rather forgiving of her, especially considering that she was a newcomer.

"It's OK...to be honest, I was starting to get worried that my first kiss was going to be Choji...he's been my best friend since the history of ever...and as you just saw, accidents can happen." explained the shadow ninja.

Lucy sweatdropped.

"Oddly enough that was my first kiss too..." explained the summoner mage, who began rubbing her hand behind her head.

Shikamaru sweatdropped.

Curious, Lucy noticed that it was getting rather late, and began to wonder where she was going to sleep.

"I'm tired..." noted the mage.

"Maybe you could use Naruto's apartment? Since he's trapped in an alternate world he's probably not going to use it for a while..." spoke Shikamaru.

"Yeah...maybe..." said Lucy.

Immediately, Shikamaru picked up Takeshi so that he could put him in a strait jacket and deliver him to Lady Tsunade...again.

Curious, Lucy headed to Naruto's apartment to see if the landlord would let her inside.

Thankfully, the landlord was sympathetic of her plight, and allowed her to stay.

"Thank goodness..." noted the summoner mage.

She had to admit, she was starting to wonder how this all started.

"I can't believe it...I actually got my first kiss in this strange world...talk about awkward." questioned Lucy.

She was actually beginning to like in this mysterious world, though she was beginning to wonder how her teammates are doing.

"They're doing just fine, right? They're not having a panic attack, are they?" inquired the mage.

Then again, she wouldn't be too surprised if they did.

"Well, off to bed I go." said Lucy.

_Meanwhile, a few miles away from Konoha..._

A young boy by the name of Yoshi Zetsubo was enjoying relaxing outside a forest. His parents had told him not to wander out too far, but he wasn't one to listen to directions.

Besides, it felt so refreshing outside. And he was a ninja-in-training, so surely he would have to venture outdoors for extended periods of time sooner or later, right?

Suddenly, he began to hear footsteps.

"Hmm? Is there someone there?" asked the boy. Was somebody coming to pick him up? He did admit that maybe he had been a bit too mischevious for his own good, and that his parents were likely starting to miss him.

At that very moment, a grim-looking ninja approached him, and he began to wonder who he was.

Curious, Yoshi looked at him, and noticed that he was dressed in jonin garb. Apparently, he was some sort of ninja.

However, his outfit was completely red instead of green and blue, and he was not wearing a headband, which he found to be peculiar. Apparently, he wasn't a Konoha ninja, which caused Yoshi to wonder what he was doing right outside it.

Also, he noticed that he had strange purple eyes, and had red hair. Did he have some kind of dojutsu? If so, he wondered what type of dojutsu it was. Was it the Byakugan? The Sharingan? He wasn't quite sure.

Immediately, Yoshi got the urge to run away from the mysterious man as something told him that he was a missing-nin...but since he was curious, he couldn't help but resist asking who the man was.

"Who...who are you?" asked the young boy.

The mysterious ninja decided to introduce himself, as a wide smile formed on his face.

"Who am I? Why, my name is Kenichi, the very ninja whose going to purify the world of the weak!" exclaimed the ninja.

"What?" asked Yoshi. He immediately became worried. That certainly didn't sound like anything good. What exactly did he mean by "purifying" the world of the weak?

Suddenly, Kenichi pulled out a kunai, much to the boy's horror.

"And you, my friend, are going to be helping me with this task!" bellowed the ninja.

Yoshi immediately screamed in horror upon realizing what he planned to do.

"No, please! Put down the kunai!" screamed the boy.

Yoshi saw Kenichi raise the kunai above his head...and then he saw nothing.

_Well, this ending for the chapter was a bit of a twist, wasn't it? I'm afraid this story isn't going to be all comedy...but I hope you enjoyed it anyway._

_In the next chapter, Naruto's going to go on a mission with his new friends...likewise, Lucy's going to do the same...heh heh._


	5. Chapter 5: Field Trip

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Naruto and Team Natsu are going to enter a jungle...while Lucy and Team 10 are going to enter a desert...how about that?_

_And yes, we're going to see some more humor...don't worry, nobody's going to stab a child this time...though unfortunately we're going to be seeing more from Kenichi in upcoming chapters._

_But until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

**Chapter 5: Field Trip**

Naruto woke up from his rather refreshing nap. Immediately, he left Lucy's apartment and went back to the Fairy Tail guild, which wasn't far away.

It was time for another day at work.

Immediately, he heard someone knocking on his door.

"Huh?" asked the ninja curiously.

As it turned out, it was none other than Happy.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"You're not going to yell at me for taking Lucy's house, are you?" inquired the genin.

Happy shook his head.

"Hmm? You're not?" asked Naruto curiously.

"I just wanted to apologize for the way I treated you...Levy explained everything! Wouldn't you know it?! You happen to be part of an alternate universe! That is crazy!" exclaimed Happy.

"Yeah...it sure is." nodded the genin.

"Anyways...to apologize for latching onto your face...twice...I'm going to give you this fish!" bellowed the Exceed.

"Sure." spoke Naruto.

Happy handed Naruto a rather large-looking fish and he happily consumed it.

"See you at Fairy Tail! Bye!" bellowed the cat.

"See you." nodded Naruto.

Speaking of which, Naruto headed to the guild to get another mission.

However, much to his pleasant surprise, Natsu, Gray, and Erza were getting a mission as well.

"Hmm?" asked the genin curiously.

Oddly enough, he also noticed that one of the mages of Fairy Tail had mysteriously disappeared...by the looks of it, he was a fairly new recruit.

"That's strange..." noted Naruto.

Curious, Naruto decided to ask Natsu, Gray, and Erza what mission they were taking together.

"Hmm? We're going on a mission into a jungle..." explained the knight in shining armor.

"A jungle?" asked the genin curiously.

"Yes, a jungle..." answered Gray.

"Can I come with?" inquired Naruto curiously.

"Um...sure, but be careful, Makarov said that there are dangerous creatures within the jungle." warned Natsu.

"I can live with that...but why does he want you to go into the jungle, anyway?" said Naruto.

"Our guildmaster said that he was planning on adding a shiny golden totem to his trophy hall...said that the natives would provide us with one if we gave them something in return..." explained Gray.

"Oh, really?" inquired the genin.

"Yeah...we're going to give them a pair of his old leg warmers." said Natsu.

"A pair of leg warmers?" inquired Naruto.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." explained Erza.

"I see..." nodded the genin. "Where is this jungle, anyway?"

"It's a few miles south..." answered the knight.

"OK." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, the genin followed the three outside of the guild.

"Good luck out there! Don't forget to write!" exclaimed Happy, who waved the foursome goodbye.

Sure enough, within fifteen minutes, the jungle was in sight. There was in fact a sign reading "Welcome To The Jungle." right next to it.

"That was fast..." noted the genin.

"Yeah..." nodded Gray.

Curious, our heroes began to venture inside.

"Sheesh, it sure is hot in here..." noted Naruto.

"I don't feel it..." said Natsu.

"That's because you're a fire dragonslayer." explained Gray.

"Oh, yeah..." realized the fire mage.

Suffice to say, Erza was feeling it worst of all, since she was wearing a heavy suit of armor.

"Ugh..." murmured the knight in shining armor.

Curious, Naruto began to ask if she is alright.

"Are you okay venturing into this jungle in that armor of yours? It's pretty hot out here..." questioned the ninja.

"Hmm..." thought Erza.

On one hand, it was rather uncomfortable having to wear a suit of armor in the jungle. On the other hand...she didn't really feel comfortable not wearing armor either...

Curious, Naruto noticed that Gray was taking his shirt off.

"Why are you taking your shirt off?" asked Naruto curiously.

"I don't like wearing a shirt..." stated Gray.

"OK..." said the ninja.

"Yeah...he has a habit of taking his clothes off...I'm not quite sure why." explained Natsu.

"OK..." said Naruto again.

Curious, Erza noticed that Gray was taking his shirt off as well...and began to wonder what to do.

Finally, she came to a decision.

"Well, since I'm on a diplomatic mission..." said the knight in shining armor.

Shrugging, Erza removed her armor, which incidentally left her in a sarashi covering her chest as well as a pair of red pants. She then proceeded to kick off her shoes.

After fully removing her suit of armor, Erza let out a sigh of relief.

"I feel so much better now...even if I'm not wearing my armor anymore at the moment..." murmured the unarmored knight.

Naruto's face turned pink upon seeing Erza show off so much skin.

"Is something the matter, Naruto? Is the heat getting to you?" asked the S-Class mage.

"Nothing! I'm OK!" exclaimed the genin.

"If you say so." answered Erza.

Suddenly, an evil monkey latched onto Natsu's face.

"Get if off! Get it off!" demanded the fire mage.

"Deja vu..." said Naruto.

Fortunately, Gray was helpful towards Natsu and helped him remove the psychotic monkey from his face.

"Thanks." said the fire mage.

"You're welcome." answered the ice mage.

Suddenly, Naruto began to hear rustling in the nearby bushes.

"Huh?" asked the genin.

Immediately, a ferocious tiger pounced on top of Naruto.

"Aah!" screamed the genin.

Fortunately for Naruto, his friends managed to pull the tiger off of him before it did him too much harm. Unfortunately for Naruto...

...they were too late to stop the tiger from ripping off his shirt.

"My shirt!" bellowed Naruto in shock.

Unfortunately for the genin, the tiger had managed to tear his shirt to shreds. He wasn't going to be able to wear it anymore.

Naruto let out a sigh.

"I guess I'm going to the village shirtless..." said the ninja.

Erza raised an eyebrow.

"Wow...you've even managed to inherit Lucy's trait of suffering clothing damage..." said the knight in shining armor.

"You know about Lucy and I being interdimensional partners?" asked Naruto.

"Levy told us all about it..." explained Erza.

"So that's why my shirt got ripped off..." said the ninja.

"It's alright Naruto, you'll blend in with the rest of us! I haven't worn a shirt in ages..." exclaimed Natsu.

"I will? Oh, right...well, at least I'm a lot cooler now." noted the ninja.

"Why do you think I took mine off?" asked Gray curiously.

"Yeah...I get it." said Naruto.

A few minutes after he suffered clothing damage, Naruto and his friends encountered what appeared to be a native.

However, something about him seemed off.

"Hmm?" inquired the genin curiously.

Suddenly, the native's stomach began to grumble.

Immediately, he began to lunge towards Naruto with his spear.

"Yikes!" exclaimed the genin.

Fortunately, Erza managed to drive the native away with her swords.

"Thanks for saving me..." explained Naruto.

"You're welcome. I guess I'm your knight...in shining armor." noted Erza.

"Yeah...literally." nodded the ninja.

Curious, Gray decided to pull out the mission guide to give him information.

"We've got a problem, guys..." said the ice mage.

"Huh?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Apparently, some of the villagers have been exiled from their tribe for practicing cannibalism..." explained Gray.

"Cannibalism?!" exclaimed the genin.

Natsu began to hug Erza tightly.

Sure enough, more of the villagers began to appear.

"You're not making meals out of me!" exclaimed Natsu, who began to toss fireballs to drive the cannibals away.

Fortunately for our heroes, they were more bark than bite, and they did not cause them too much trouble.

However, the foursome eventually came across a fork in the road.

"Oh no..." murmured Erza.

"What's the matter?" inquired Naruto.

"Every time we come across a fork in the road like this...Natsu and Gray begin to argue with each other." explained the knight.

"Oh." said the genin.

Sure enough, Natsu and Gray were having a heated argument with each other.

"I say we go left!" bellowed Natsu.

"Why can't we go right?!" exclaimed Gray.

"I want to go left!" screeched Natsu.

"I want to go right!" shouted Gray.

"Yeah...they're going to be at it for a while." said Erza.

Curious, Naruto noticed that there was a sign detailing "This Way To The Village" pointing at the right path.

"I guess we're going there." spoke Naruto.

Erza nodded.

Immediately, Naruto and Erza went to the right path while Natsu and Gray continued arguing.

But unbeknownst to the heroes, one of the villagers had a mistake...as an older villager pointed out to him.

"Simba! Don't you remember? The sign is supposed to be pointing to the left path!" exclaimed the older villager.

"I'm sorry, Mufasa." apologized Simba.

Immediately, Mufasa redirected the sign towards the left path.

"There...now visitors will know where to go if they want to visit our village!" exclaimed the older villager.

"Thank you." answered the younger villager.

A few minutes after Naruto and Erza had taken the wrong path, the former began to feel the urge to use the restroom...which the latter immediately noticed.

"Is something the matter?" inquired the knight.

"I need to use the bathroom." said Naruto.

"Sure...do you want me to wait for you?" asked Erza.

"You can go on ahead." explained the ninja.

Shrugging, Erza decided to leave Naruto to do some business.

Curious, the knight in shining armor noticed that there was a sign up ahead.

She immediately began to walk over to it to see what it read.

"Let's see now...danger...quicksand...well, good thing I didn't step in-"

Suddenly, Erza noticed that she was now standing inside a quicksand pit.

"Well, this mission has taken a turn for the worse." noted the S-Class mage.

_Meanwhile..._

Waking up from her nap at Naruto's apartment, Lucy decided to go see how her friends were doing...

As it turned out, they were at the mission board accepting a mission.

"Hey!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Hey..." said Shikamaru.

In this case, he was going to do a mission along with his teammates...which as Lucy knew were Ino and Choji.

"Are you three going somewhere?" asked Lucy.

Shikamaru nodded.

"We're going on a trip to the desert..." said Choji.

"A trip to the desert?" asked Lucy.

"Yeah...there's a pyramid there...that apparently contains treasure." explained Ino.

"Are you sure you should be plundering a tomb?" asked the mage curiously.

"Well, it was on the mission board..." said Shikamaru.

"Hmm..." questioned the summoner mage. She was beginning to question the morality of this particular mission.

"I suppose we could have Lady Tsunade look into it if you want..." questioned the shadow ninja.

"I suppose it's not that important." explained Lucy.

Suddenly, Ino and Choji began to giggle.

"What's so funny?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Well, there's a rumor going around that you two are dating." explained Ino.

"What?!" bellowed Lucy.

"Yeah...Konohamaru claims that he saw you two kissing..." said Choji.

"It was an accident!" exclaimed Shikamaru.

"Was it now? He also said that he saw you two playing Shogi a few minutes before the kiss happened..." spoke the kunoichi.

"He didn't have anyone else to play with!" bellowed Lucy.

"Whatever you say." nodded Ino.

"Whatever you say." answered Choji.

Shikamaru sighed.

"Can we go on the mission now?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"Do you want to take your girlfriend with you?" asked Ino.

Shikamaru facepalmed.

"Er, do you want to come along, Lucy?" inquired the Naru clan member.

"Um, sure..." nodded Lucy.

"Alright then...according to this map, the pyramid is all the way in a sandy desert...which curiously enough actually isn't too far from here..." spoke Shikamaru.

Ino and Choji shrugged.

"Well, off to the desert we go." said the shadow ninja.

Immediately, Lucy Heartfilia followed the three to the desert.

A_ few minutes later..._

"So...did you bring water?" asked Lucy.

Ino nodded.

"And did you bring food?" inquired Shikamaru.

Choji nodded.

"Good. Then I think we're set." said the Naru clan member.

Immediately, the foursome stepped out into the desert...which unsurprisingly was very hot.

Already, our heroes were beginning to sweat.

"I sure hope that the pyramid isn't too far from here..." noted Lucy.

"There does seem to be a village up ahead..." spoke Ino.

"You think we'll need a magic lamp there?" inquired Choji.

"I don't know, Choji, those peddlers are shady." warned Shikamaru.

At that very moment, several bandits approached them.

"Can I help you?" asked Lucy.

"Give us your money!" bellowed one of the bandits.

"We know where you live!" exclaimed another bandit.

Fortunately, Shikamaru was able to use his shadow imitation technique to restrain the bandits so that his teammates could unleash a world of hurt on them...which they did.

"Thank goodness..." said Ino.

"Funny, I actually happen to be well-off at my alternate world...you think that's why they came after us?" stated Lucy.

"Are you know?" inquired Shikamaru.

"So that's why you wanted Lucy to be your girlfriend!" exclaimed Choji.

Shikamaru facepalmed while Lucy sweatdropped.

"Didn't I already tell you that she wasn't my girlfriend?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"Yes...of course..." answered Ino.

Shikamaru sighed.

Suddenly, they began to hear what appeared to be the ground shaking.

"Hmm?" inquired Choji.

Much to their astonishment, a giant sandworm emerged from the ground.

"OK...the bandits I can understand, but a giant sandworm? Sheesh." said Shikamaru.

Immediately, the giant sandworm began to attack Team 10 and Lucy, who likewise were trying to keep a distance from it.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, the giant sandworm was capable of spewing acid...acid which of course could burn Team 10 and Lucy's flesh.

Choji immediately slammed into the sandworm using his body expansion technique, which seemed to be rather effective.

However, the giant sandworm bit into him, causing him to deflate.

"How are we going to take down something so big?" questioned Ino.

"Maybe if we toss a paper bomb into his mouth, maybe it will explode?" inquired Lucy.

Shikamaru sweatdropped.

"Is something the matter?" asked the mage.

"That was what I was going to suggest..." said the ninja.

"No wonder you two are a couple! You're made for each other!" exclaimed Ino.

"Not this again..." spoke Shikamaru.

"Yeah..." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, Shikamaru tossed a paper bomb inside the sandworm's mouth...which oddly enough did make it explode.

Of course, it was rather...messy.

"Sheesh..." said Shikamaru.

Shortly afterwards, our heroes arrived in the desert town. Sure enough, there were a lot of goods and services. Lucy was starting to wonder if they had a magic carpet...they had loads of them back in her world.

Then again, magic did not appear to exist in this one.

Curiously, most of the villagers appeared to be dressed in white and wearing coifs...apparently, that was the latest fashion.

Suddenly, Lucy noticed her white and blue dress was covered with sandworm goo.

Shrugging, she decided to put her dress in her suitcase so that she could wash it later...which once again left her in her tube top and her shorts.

Immediately, she began to feel a lot cooler.

"I wonder why I didn't think of this before..." noted Lucy.

At that very moment, Shikamaru noticed what Lucy was wearing, and began to blush.

"Um, hey there!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Is there a particular reason you're dressed like that?" inquired Shikamaru.

"My dress got covered in sandworm gunk...and it was hot out." explained the summoner mage.

"Oh..." said the shadow mage.

"On the plus side, I haven't really suffered any clothing damage since I've gotten here..." noted Lucy.

"Clothing damage?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah...it's happened to me a lot...though thankfully it appears to have finally stopped..." spoke the female mage.

"Sorry to hear that." inquired the shadow ninja.

"Anyways, is the pyramid nearby?" asked the summoner curiously.

"I believe so." nodded Shikamaru.

"I don't think you want to go in there." warned one of the villagers.

"Hmm?" inquired Lucy.

"It happens to have a few booby-traps...as well as mummies...and flesh-eating scarab beetles!" exclaimed the local.

"Flesh-eating scarab beetles? I thought they were scavengers..." questioned Shikamaru.

"Normally yes...but these scarab beetles were specifically summoned by ancient ninja to vanquish their enemies...to them, your flesh will taste like bread and butter." explained the villager.

"Bread and butter?!" exclaimed Lucy.

All of a sudden, the summoner mage began to feel nervous. Thankfully, Shikamaru comforted her by placing his hand on her bare shoulder.

"Thanks...I needed that." said the mage.

"If you're going to want to plunder the tomb...then be careful out there...the only person I know that's ever managed to pull off looting that pyramid was Montana Indie." explained the local.

"Montana Indie?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah...he's a treasure hunter than insists that artifacts belong in a museum...then again, now that I think of it...I don't think he was a ninja...so maybe you and your friends can pull it off...what do I know?" inquired the villager.

"I happen to be a mage actually...or at least I used to be." explained Lucy.

"What? Don't be ridiculous! Those only exist in fairy tales!" bellowed the local.

Lucy sweatdropped.

"What is your name, anyway?" asked Shikamaru.

"My name? It's Ahmed!" exclaimed Ahmed.

"Good to know..." noted the mage.

Immediately, Lucy and Shikamaru went to alert Ino and Choji where the pyramid was...and what they should expect.

"Right then...let's get going, shall we?" inquired Ino.

"Yeah...I'm getting hungry." said Choji.

"Aren't you always?" asked the kunoichi.

"Yeah..." nodded the chunin. What could he say? He needed his weight for his jutsu.

Together, Team 10 and Lucy set out to the pyramid so that they could collect an artifact and donate it to a museum...or in this case Konoha.

_Well, it looks like Naruto and his new friends have gone off on another mission...and so has Lucy and her new friends..._

_In the next chapter...well, Naruto and Lucy are going to complete their missions and go home...or the residence they have at the moment, rather. Also, Hinata and two ANBU members are going to investigate the disappearance of the missing child...which unfortunately as you all know is already dead._

_Peace!_


	6. Chapter 6: Mission Completion

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, well, as I said, our heroes are going to complete their missions. Isn't that just dandy?_

_Oh, and Hinata Hyuga is going to investigate the disappearance of the young child that we saw earlier...along with two different ANBU members._

_And yes, Sakura Haruno is going to be in this chapter...I believe somebody requested that I included her into this story...which was something I always intended to do. Heh heh._

**Chapter 6: Mission Completion**

Now up to her knees in quicksand, Erza began to think of a way that she could get herself out of this.

"Okay...this is no time to panic...they say that if you struggle furiously, you're only going to sink deeper...so I'm not going to struggle..." noted the knight in shining armor.

Personally, she was wondering why she couldn't float in this particular substance considering that it was similar to water...apparently, it was just her bad day...and potentially her last.

Immediately, Erza let out a deep breath to try to relax herself.

"Right then...like I said, this is no time to panic. I'm sure that sooner or later somebody's going to rescue me...then again, Natsu and Gray are still fighting...and Naruto left to go to the bathroom...but one of them will still come for me, right?" inquired the S-Class Mage.

Now that she thought of it, she was glad that she removed her heavy armor when she did.

Curious, she noticed that there appeared to be vines that she could use to pull herself out of the quicksand with.

"Hmm...it's worth a shot." said Erza.

However, as it turned out, this particular vine was actually a cobra.

Her eyes widening, she immediately let go of it.

Curious, she decided to try another vine, and discovered that it was a boa constrictor.

"Aah!" exclaimed Erza.

At this point, the knight noticed that she was now up to her waist in the mud.

"Now I'm really starting to get worried." noted the knight in shining armor.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, this is the pyramid?" inquired Lucy curiously.

"I believe so..." nodded Shikamaru.

As it turned out, this particular pyramid was rather wide...though strangely enough it was only three stories tall.

Of course, there was a large staircase leading inside the Pyramid.

Fortunately, the staircase leading inside the pyramid itself did not appear to be booby-trapped, so they didn't have to worry about climbing it.

"That's a relief..." noted Choji.

"Wouldn't want to get blown to bits..." agreed Ino.

Immediately, the foursome entered the pyramid.

As it turned out, there were many sarcophaguses inside.

"I wonder what's inside..." said Lucy.

"We'll probably just see dead people." answered Shikamaru.

"True..." nodded Choji.

"I wonder where the treasure is?" asked Ino.

"Probably all the way at the top." suggested Lucy.

"I see..." acknowledged Shikamaru.

Sure enough, there was a staircase leading higher into the pyramid.

However, at that very moment, some of the sarcophaguses began to open.

"Uh-oh..." said Shikamaru.

Sure enough, there were mummies inside the pyramid, as Ahmed had warned them about.

"First a giant sandworm, and now mummies?" questioned Choji.

"Yeah..." nodded Ino.

"Do you want your mummy yet?" asked Lucy curiously.

Shikamaru sweatdropped.

Fortunately, as it turned out, our heroes could simply destroy the mummies by unwrapping them...which they did, causing them to dissolve into dust.

"That was surprisingly simple..." noted Ino.

"To think that ancient ninja used these to guard the pyramid..." questioned Choji.

"Well, we still haven't reached the top yet." noted Shikamaru.

Shrugging, Lucy and Team 10 climbed up the staircase to see if they could get to the next floor...which they did.

For a moment, it seemed that this particular hallway was completely empty...

Shrugging, Choji and Ino decided to go up ahead...

...which proved to be a mistake.

Suddenly, a trapdoor opened up beneath the two of them, causing them to fall into a pit.

"Choji! Ino!" bellowed Shikamaru.

Lucy gasped in shock.

Fortunately, they weren't terribly injured, and Shikamaru and Lucy were able to pull them out of the pit.

"Are you OK?" asked Lucy.

Choji and Ino nodded.

However, Shikamaru noticed that their cheeks had turned red.

"Is something the matter?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"When we fell into that pit...I ended up kissing Ino on the lips..." said Choji.

"Yeah...what he said..." answered Ino sheepishly.

"Are you two a couple now?" asked the shadow ninja curiously.

Choji and Ino sweatdropped. All of a sudden, they hated irony.

Fortunately, Lucy and Shikamaru were able to disarm the rest of the traps, and they were able to make it to the top of the pyramid where the treasure chest was.

"Well, here we are..." said Shikamaru.

Immediately, Lucy began to cheer.

"Well, now to get the treasure and..."

However, at that very moment, a few openings appeared in the wall.

"What the-" said Lucy.

Immediately, ravenous scarab beetles began to fill the treasure chamber.

"Oh, right...how could I have forgotten about those?" inquired the summoner mage.

"Well, this can't be good..." noted Shikamaru.

_Meanwhile..._

Now chest-deep in quicksand, Erza at this point was beginning to accept her fate.

"I have to wonder what the rest of Fairy Tail is going to do without me...they said I'm one of their strongest mages..." noted the knight in shining armor.

As it turned out, all the vines that she could have used to pull herself out with were snakes.

"Why are there so many snakes hanging on that tree, anyway?" inquired Erza.

"Well, in just a few minutes from now...I'll be in the afterlife...I sure hope Natsu and Gray can do more missions without me..." noted the knight.

However, at that very moment, something unexpected happened.

Curious, Erza heard a thunking sound...and realized that she had just hit the bottom of the quicksand.

"Hmm?" inquired the knight in shining armor.

Fortunately for Erza, as it turned out, this particular quicksand pit wasn't deep enough to sink her completely.

"Well, I guess quicksand isn't as deadly as Hollywood movies make it out to be..." noted the mage.

However, she still had no idea how she was going to escape from the quicksand pit.

"Maybe I could try pushing down on the mud with my hands? That seems as good of an idea as any." noted Erza.

Fortunately for the knight in shining armor, she could actually pull her arms out of the quicksand...albeit with some difficulty.

"Sheesh...this quicksand pit is sticky." acknowledged Erza.

Unfortunately for the S-Class mage, she could only push herself up to her waist before falling back into the quicksand at the depth she was before.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to be here for a while." noted the Requip mage.

_Meanwhile..._

Immediately, Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru began to use their jutsus to ward off the scarab beetles.

Lucy had to admit, they were working together surprisingly well. They were even managing to use Choji as a yo-yo.

However, she realized that if she wanted to stop the scarab beetles from eating them for dinner, she was going to have to give them a hand as well.

Curious, Lucy pressed her hand against the floor to see if she could summon any animals that ate scarabs for breakfast.

In this case, she ended up summoning three bats, two toad, a flycatcher, two vultures, and a sand lizard.

"A little help?" asked Lucy curiously.

The animals nodded, and they began consuming the scarab beetles...who had gone from hunter to hunted.

Of course, Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru were squashing quite a few of them too.

"Maybe we should go on an extermination mission someday..." noted Shikamaru.

"Yeah..." nodded Choji.

"Maybe after this mission?" inquired Ino.

Eventually, the scarab beetles retreated, leaving them free to take the treasure for themselves.

Sure enough, it was worth a hefty amount of ryo.

Fortunately, it appeared that taking the treasure had put the mummies to sleep and had disabled the traps...so it looked as if they were home free.

Eventually, they reached Konoha, where Tsunade herself was waiting for them.

Immediately, Team 10 saluted her with respect. Shrugging, Lucy decided to do as well.

Tsunade proceeded to take the gold they had obtained the pyramid.

"Perfect! Now I can use this to pay off some of my gambling debts..." explained the Fifth Hokage.

"Your gambling debts?" asked Shikamaru curiously.

"Mm-hmm...you'd be surprised what I owe." explained Tsunade.

"How much exactly do you owe?" inquired Lucy.

The Fifth Hokage handed Lucy a piece of paper.

The summoner mage immediately gasped in shock.

"Yeah...keep on doing missions like this and I'll pay it off in no time." said the Fifth Hokage.

"Um, sure..." nodded Shikamaru.

Shrugging, Lucy decided to head back to Naruto's residence to get some rest. It had been a rather laborous mission, though admittedly she still enjoyed it.

"Maybe one day I'll be ready to go on a S-Rank Mission..." thought the female mage turned kunoichi.

"I have to admit...while I do miss my home...being stranded in this alternate world isn't so bad..." thought Lucy.

Surely being in an alternate world had its share of perks, right?

_Meanwhile..._

"You know, being in this quicksand pit isn't actually so bad...after being in this humid jungle for so long it actually feels kind of refreshing..." said Erza.

However, at that very moment, a friend of hers came to help.

"Erza!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Um, hey there, Naruto. How are you doing?" asked Erza.

"Don't worry Erza, I'll get you out of there!" exclaimed Naruto.

Immediately, the genin created several copies of himself to help him free Erza from the quicksand.

"Right then...let's form a centipede, shall we?" inquired Naruto.

Immediately, the clones grabbed onto each other's ankles so that Naruto could reach Erza with his hands.

But as it turned out, though his plan was heroic, there was a number of flaws with his plan.

For starters, Naruto needed all of his clones to keep ahold of each other for the plan to work. If just one clone were to let go, a certain blonde-haired ninja was going to fall into the quicksand.

Second of all, Erza's hands were rather slippery, as they happened to be covered with mud. Naruto was going to have a very hard time getting a good grip.

Thirdly, in the event the genin ended up falling into quicksand, he would lose concentration and the clones would end up disappearing...thus leaving Naruto up a creek without a paddle.

Lastly, Naruto was distracted by the fact that Erza had dressed immodestly during the mission...so he was going to have a hard time paying attention.

To make a long story short, the plan failed, Naruto ended up falling into the quicksand, and the clones burst into smoke.

With a resounding splash, the genin realized what had happened, and he began to apologize.

"I'm sorry Erza! I tried to save you as best as I could, I swear! Now we're going to die!" bellowed Naruto.

However, much to the genin's surprise, Erza did not seem too frightened by the situation. In fact, she seemed relaxed.

Naruto immediately raised an eyebrow.

"Um, Naruto...I think we're both going to survive this." explained the knight in shining armor.

"Huh?" asked the genin.

"I just hit the bottom of the quicksand pit a few minutes ago..." said Erza.

"You did?" asked Naruto curiously.

Suddenly, the genin hit the bottom as well, leaving him shoulder-deep in the quicksand.

"See? What did I tell you? Then again you are about a head shorter than I am..." noted the S-Class mage.

"Huh? Funny, I didn't notice that before..." spoke Naruto.

"Yeah...some of my friends have told me that I'm rather tall..." spoke Erza.

"True...anyways, how are we going to get out of here?" nodded the genin.

"I'm sure that Natsu and Gray will get us out of here eventually...but to be honest, I'm not really in a hurry." explained the S-Class mage.

"Really? How come?" inquired Naruto.

"I'm actually starting to like being in this quicksand pit...I have to admit, the mud feels surprisingly good against my skin...I'm actually tempted to start smearing it on my face..." explained Erza.

"Really? Huh, I'm actually starting to feel it too." noted Naruto.

"I say we just relax until Natsu and Gray come to save us...what do you say?" asked the S-Class mage.

"Sounds like a plan." nodded the genin.

_Meanwhile..._

After finally putting aside their differences, Natsu and Gray decided to see if they could find anything that would lead them on a right path.

Sure enough, they found a sign pointing to the left saying "This Way To The VIllage".

"Why didn't we notice that before?" inquired Natsu.

However, as it turned out, Erza and Naruto had taken the right path, as their footprints would suggest.

"Why did they go there?" asked Gray.

"Should we tell them they went the wrong way?" asked the fire mage.

"Yeah, I would believe so." nodded the ice mage.

Immediately, Natsu and Gray went to alert Erza and Naruto that they were going in the wrong direction.

Sure enough, the duo found them in a quicksand pit. Much to their surprise, they appeared to be asleep.

Not only that, but Naruto was sleeping on Erza's shoulder while Erza happened to be hugging him.

"Why are they sleeping? Can't they see that they're in danger?!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Wake up!" bellowed Gray.

At that very moment, Naruto and Erza woke up...immediately, the former noticed what he was doing, and immediately apologized.

"Sorry, Erza!" exclaimed the genin.

"What's there to apologize about?" inquired Erza.

"Um..." answered the genin.

Sure enough, Gray summoned an ice chain to pull the duo out of the quicksand...Erza immediately grabbed onto the chain and pulled herself out.

Oddly enough, she seemed a bit unhappy about it.

Gray then laid the ice chain across the quicksand so that Naruto could pull himself out...but as it turned out, he had a problem.

"I think my arms are stuck..." said the genin.

"Hmm? Oh that's right...you don't have superhuman strength like Erza does, do you?" inquired the ice mage.

"Erza has superhuman strength?" inquired Naruto.

"Yeah...I heard that she once lifted a tree and tossed it for miles..." said Natsu.

"I better stay on her good side then." noted the genin.

"Can you bite down on it?" asked Gray.

Sure enough, Naruto could.

After pulling the genin out of the quicksand, Gray and Natsu directed the duo back towards the village.

Much to Gray's surprise, Naruto was actually eating the chain.

"Why are you eating the ice chain?" inquired the ice mage.

"It tastes like ice cream..." answered the genin.

"OK...I've never tried eating it before...so what do I know?" shrugged the devil slayer.

Sure enough, the village chief was very happy to see them.

"Thank you for your generosity. I appreciate your kindness, and I shall give you the totem that your guildmaster requested." said the chief.

Curious, the leader of the village noticed that Erza and Naruto were both covered with mud, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Did something happen on your way to the village?" asked the chief.

"We ended up in quicksand...and strangely enough we actually enjoyed it." explained Erza.

Simba began to rub his hand behind the back of his head.

"Well, you can wash off at that lake over there." explained the chief.

"Your name is..." asked Naruto.

"It's Akachi." said Akachi.

Sure enough, Naruto and Erza went into the lake to wash themselves off. Oddly enough, Erza actually took her pants off in front of him, leaving her in her fundoshi.

"You know, it's funny...I think I understand why you're immune to my Sexy Jitsu now..." explained Naruto.

"You do?" asked Erza.

"You don't really seem to know what modesty is..." noted the genin.

"Yeah...I don't. I guess I was just born that way." nodded the knight in shining armor.

"Ah well. Just try not to make me go blind, OK? I may be a bit too lecherous for my own good, but I have standards." said Naruto as he took off his muddy pants, leaving him in his boxers.

"Fair enough." agreed Erza.

Thankfully, the villagers agreed to wash off their clothes for them...which was rather simple since they weren't wearing too much to begin with.

Naruto immediately entered the lake along with Erza.

"Oddly enough, one of my teammates once told me that if I ever so much as glanced at her while she was in her underpants, she'd rip off my head and use it as a basketball...and then use my intestines as jump rope." noted the genin.

"That's harsh." agreed Erza.

"You're not going to do that to me, are you? Gray mentioned that you have superhuman strength..." said the ninja.

"Don't worry, I'm not." answered the S-Class mage.

"Thank goodness...speaking of which, I wonder how she's doing without me." questioned Naruto.

_Meanwhile..._

"He went into an interdimensional portal!? Darn it, Naruto! How could you be so stupid?!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Go easy on him, Sakura! He didn't even know what an interdimensional portal was until he got sucked through it!" bellowed Hinata.

"Fine, I'll try to relax." said the pink-haired kunoichi.

"I'm worried about him as you are...but if we're going to bring him back, we're going to need to stay focused. Speaking of which, I'm going on a mission." explained Hinata.

"You are?" inquired Sakura.

"Yeah...according to the mission board, a local child has gone missing. I need to find him and bring him back to Konoha." said the Hyuga clan member.

"Really?" asked the medical ninja.

"Yeah...however, Lady Tsunade just won some money at a poker game last night...so she's bringing two ANBU members with me." explained Hinata.

Suddenly, Sakura noticed that there happened to be two ANBU members with her.

"Um...hello, gentlemen?" inquired the kunoichi.

One of the ANBU members waved at her.

"This is Isamu and this is Jurou." explained Hinata.

Oddly enough, the duo were rather identical. However, Isamu was wearing shades while Jurou was not.

"Please to meet you, gentlemen..." said Sakura.

"Don't worry. We will find this missing child and bring him back shortly." said Isamu.

"You can count on us!" exclaimed Jurou.

"OK...good luck, I guess." said Sakura.

Immediately, the two ANBU members left along with Hinata.

Curious, Sakura recalled that her mistress only won money at gambling whenever something bad was about to happen...and began to wonder if something rotten was currently occurring in Konoha.

"It's probably nothing..." thought the kunoichi.

_Time for another cliffhanger, folks! Our heroes have completed their missions and will be heading back home..._

_In the next chapter, we're going to hear from Kenichi again...and yes, he's going to do something horrible. We're also going to hear from Chiyoye again...why exactly did she join Fairy Tail?_

_Have a good one!_


	7. Chapter 7: Old Friends

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, well, guess what? We're going to see the interdimensional portal again! And yes, two people are going to be using it...can you guess which ones?_

_Oh, and Kenichi will be appearing again...you have been warned._

**Chapter 7: Old Friends**

"Here is your totem." said Akachi.

"Thanks. We're going to put this in our trophy gallery...that way we'll have something to be proud of!" explained Natsu.

"Your trophy gallery?" inquired the village chief.

"Yeah...our guildmaster has a lot of them..." explained Gray.

"Here are your leg warmers." said Natsu.

Immediately, Natsu handed the leg warmers to the village chief.

"Thank you very much." said the chief.

At that very moment, Naruto and Erza walked into the village after taking a dip in the makeshift pool and getting themselves dressed.

"Did you clean yourselves off?" asked Akachi.

"Yes, we did." nodded Naruto.

Fortunately, the villagers had provided the teenage boy with a shirt to replace the one he had lost...it actually somewhat resembled his old one, but it was blue instead of orange and black.

"I look just like my father now..." thought Naruto.

"So, are we done with the mission?" inquired the ninja.

"Believe it!" exclaimed Natsu.

Naruto sweatdropped. Did Natsu just steal his catchphrase?

Immediately, our four heroes left the village. As they did so, Mufasa decided to ask Akachi a question.

"You do realize that we were going to throw that out, right?" inquired Mufasa.

"Another man's trash is another man's treasure." answered Akashi.

Fortunately for our heroes, they did not run into any more trouble as they headed back to Fairy Tail to celebrate their success.

Sure enough, Makarov was very happy to have a new golden totem to add to his trophy gallery. Then again, the members of his guild had already given him many trophies in the past.

"Thank you for accepting my mission...hopefully the villagers will think of me as a friend..." noted Makarov.

"What was that village anyway?" inquired Naruto.

"Just a village by the name of Babangida..." said the guildmaster.

"Babangida?" questioned Erza.

"Yes...I know." nodded Makarov.

At that very moment, Mirajane came by with good news.

"Can I help you?" asked Naruto.

"Levy managed to get the interdimensional portal working again!" exclaimed the S-Class mage.

"What? She did?" inquired the genin.

"Congratulations Naruto! Now you can go home!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Have a nice trip!" bellowed Gray.

"Try not to hop into more interdimensional portals next time...they might be dangerous." said Erza.

"OK then..." noted Naruto.

Immediately, he went to where the interdimensional portal chamber was. Was today going to be the big day?

However, as it turned out, he was going to have to wait a while.

"Excuse me...but would you mind letting us retrieve Lucy first? We have a "Ladies First" policy here..." explained Levy.

"Fine..." nodded Naruto. It was rather depressing that he was going to have wait a bit longer...but he figured he should listen to the magician.

"Wait, aren't we going to need somebody to tell her that the portal is working again?" inquired the genin.

At that very moment, Natsu came in.

"Hello there, Natsu." greeted Levy.

"I'll go get her!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"Huh? Um, sure." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, Natsu jumped into the portal to retrieve Lucy.

_A few minutes later..._

"So, this is where Lucy hopped off too. Well, it's time for me to go look for her!" exclaimed Natsu.

Noticing that there was a populated city nearby, Natsu decided to search there.

However, he wasn't unnoticed.

At that very moment, Hinata (along with her two ANBU bodyguards) noticed him running towards Konoha.

"Who is that?" asked Isamu.

"I've never seen him before...and I've done scouting duty for Konoha several times..." noted Jurou.

"I think he's rather attractive..." noted Hinata.

"What?" inquired Isamu.

"Never mind. Sorry, I got distracted." said the kunoichi.

At that very moment, Hinata and the ANBU ninja noticed the interdimensional portal, causing the former to raise an eyebrow.

"Wait, didn't Naruto use an interdimensional portal just like this one?" inquired Hinata.

"I suppose he did...why?" asked Jurou.

"If so, I would like to use that portal to search for him..." explained the kunoichi.

"What? You want to use it?" inquired Isamu.

"If it means finding Naruto, then yes." said Hinata.

"OK...but hurry on back!" exclaimed Jurou.

Hinata nodded, and she jumped into the interdimensional portal.

"See you later." spoke Isamu.

Deciding to continue the search for the child without Hinata, the two ANBU members eventually came across a ninja that they had never seen before.

As it turns out...it was none other than Kenichi.

"Who, who are you?" inquired Isamu.

"My name is Kenichi. What brings you here, gentlemen?" inquired Kenichi.

Curious, Jurou recalled hearing that name before...though he wasn't quite sure where.

Shrugging, the two ANBU members decided to ask him some questions.

"Have you seen this boy? He's been missing for a few days now...and we've been wondering where he's gone off too..." asked Jurou curiously.

"Hmm? Oh yes! I've seen him! Right this way, gentlemen." said the ninja.

Raising an eyebrow, Isamu could have sworn that he saw Kenichi smiling for a moment when he asked him about the boy.

"How much does he know?" questioned the ANBU ninja.

_Meanwhile..._

Natsu continued his search for Lucy. Hopefully, he would able to find her soon.

However, all of a sudden, his eyes were beginning to feel rather...strange.

"Huh?" inquired the fire mage.

Suddenly, he began to see everything around him...

"What the-" exclaimed the dragon slayer.

Curious, Natsu tried blinking, and he was seeing normally again.

"That was strange...why did my vision suddenly get so enhanced?" questioned the fire mage.

Still wondering what was happened, the fire mage tried to see if he could enhance his vision again to see if he could find Lucy.

Sure enough, yes he could.

"This is rather unusual...but at least it's going to let me find Lucy." questioned the dragon slayer.

He had to wonder...was this some sort of dragon slayer ability that Igneel had not told him about? He thought he was teaching him everything...

Shrugging, he decided to continue his hunt for Lucy.

As it turned out, she was playing yet another game of Shogi with Shikamaru.

"Hmm...you actually managed to beat me again..." said the shadow ninja.

"Up for another round?" inquired the mage.

"Um, sure..." nodded Shikamaru.

"Lucy!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Huh?" asked Lucy.

Curious, the summoner mage turned behind her, and noticed that it was none other than her friend Natsu.

"Natsu!" exclaimed Lucy.

Immediately, Lucy gave Natsu a hug.

"Is this a friend of yours?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Yes! He's my guildmate!" exclaimed Lucy, letting go of Natsu.

"Are you ready to come home?" asked the fire mage.

"I sure am...though admittedly I'm going to miss my friends..." spoke the summoner mage.

"I suppose if we ever manage to get that portal stable you can visit them again..." noted Natsu.

"Yeah, I suppose...say, what's up with your eyes?" nodded Lucy.

"Huh? Well, ever since I came here...I've had this peculiar ability to use my eyes for extended vision...I have to admit, it's rather nifty, huh?" asked Natsu.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"About that...I think you may have the Byakugan." explained the shadow ninja.

"The Byakugan?" inquired Natsu.

"It's a dojutsu that's been passed around throughout the Hyuga clan...it allows the user to see in a near 360 field around them...with the exception of a blind spot on the back of the neck." explained Shikamaru.

"Really? That's very interesting..." explained Lucy.

"I'm not sure how you managed to obtain it...but I hope you enjoy your gift." said the shadow ninja.

"This Byakugan is sweet...but how did I manage to obtain it?" inquired Natsu curiously.

Curious, Lucy recalled how she managed to obtain Naruto Uzumaki's Nine-Tailed Fox as well as his Rasengan when he used the interdimensional portal shortly after she did.

Did someone else use the interdimensional portal while Natsu was looking for her?

"If so...then who was it?" she thought.

_About a dozen minutes later..._

"I sure hope Natsu gets back soon..." said Naruto.

At that very moment, the interdimensional portal began to vibrate, indicating that someone was using it, much to the genin's excitement.

"Are they coming back?" asked the wannabe Hokage.

"I would believe so, yes." nodded Levy.

"Finally...now I can get back home..." noted the genin.

But as it turned out, it was once again not who they were expecting.

"Wait, is that..." inquired Naruto.

Suddenly, Hinata Hyuga stepped out of the portal.

"Naruto!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, the Hyuga clan member began to hug Naruto highly.

"Hinata!" cheered Naruto.

Levy raised an eyebrow.

"Is this a friend of yours?" asked Levy.

"It sure is!" nodded Naruto.

"I'm so glad to see you again Naruto...now can we get out of here? Your friends miss you...I know I did." said Hinata.

"Sure, why n-"

However, at that very moment, the interdimensional portal began to close.

"Not again!" exclaimed Levy.

"Uh-oh..." thought Naruto.

Sure enough, the interdimensional portal had completely disappeared.

"Oh no, Hinata! Now we're both stranded in this magical world!" exclaimed Naruto.

"What?!" shouted Hinata.

At that very moment, Happy burst into the interdimensional portal chamber.

"Nooooo!" screamed the Exceed.

"What's up with him?" asked Naruto.

"Natsu was his best friend in the whole world...I don't think he's going to be happy that he's gone...despite his name." explained Levy.

Immediately, Happy grabbed onto Hinata.

"Wha-" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Bring him back to me! Bring him back to me!" bellowed Happy.

"Yeah...he's been like that since Naruto came here. This interdimensional portal is really doing a toll on his mind...he doesn't like being separated from his friends." explained Levy.

"Sorry to hear that..." answered Naruto.

"Can you let go now?" inquired Hinata.

Happy let go of Hinata.

"Sheesh...why does this world have talking cats that walk upright?" questioned the kunoichi.

"Beats me..." answered Naruto.

Suddenly, Hinata's stomach began to grumble.

"Hmm? Are you hungry, Hinata?" asked the genin.

"Well, I suppose eating something will get my mind off of this..." noted Hinata.

Shrugging, the Hyuga clan kunoichi decided to look for something to eat. Fortunately, as it turned out, the cafeteria was nearby.

"Off to lunch I go." said the kunoichi.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, you happen to know where the missing boy is?" asked Isamu.

"Yes. He's right over there." explained Kenichi.

Curious, Isamu looked to where Kenichi was pointing, and gasped in shock.

As it turned out, they were too late to save the boy.

Jurou immediately investigated the body, and discovered that he had been killed by a stab wound to the neck. Apparently, he had been murdered.

"Who could have done this to him?" inquired the ANBU member.

Suddenly, Kenichi began to laugh.

"What's so funny? This is a crime scene!" bellowed Isamu.

Curious, Jurou noticed that in his eyes Kenichi happened to have what appeared to be the Rinnegan...which surprised him due to the fact that he thought it as a legend.

Could he really have such a powerful dojutsu?

"You still haven't caught on? I killed him. I stabbed him in the neck with a kunai. Why do you ask? He was weak and I was strong. He did not belong in this world...so I took him out of it." explained Kenichi.

Isamu's eyes widened with shock. Not only had the ninja they had been speaking to a few moments ago murdered the child they had been hunting down, he was freely admitting it to them.

Immediately, the two ANBU ninja realized what they had to do.

"Alright, you're coming with us." explained Isamu.

However, at this point, Kenichi decided that he was done playing with them.

Suddenly, he transformed his right arm into a buzzsaw.

"What are yo-"

Shortly afterwards, Kenichi began cutting into Isamu, who immediately started to scream. His partner began to scream as well.

Kenichi then turned his arm back into normal, leaving Isamu's corpse on the floor.

"Isamu! No! Speak to me!" exclaimed Jurou.

Overwhelm with shock and grief due to the loss of his comrade, Jurou failed to notice Kenichi sneaking up behind him, who at this point had turned his left arm into a set of claws.

Impaling Jurou through the chest, Kenichi laughed as the former let out his final breath and his blood began to spill.

Dropping the ANBU ninja on the floor like he had done earlier, the Rinnegan possessor decided it was time for him to leave.

"I'd like to stay a bit longer...but since they insist on investigating what I've been doing lately...I guess I'd better get going." noted Kenichi.

Personally, it baffled him how many ninja chose to protect the weak. It seems that none of them realized that they all should be exterminated. The world of ninja was only for the strong, and he happened to be the strongest of them all.

Immediately, he pressed his hand on the ground...

...and summoned an enormous blue serpentine dragon.

Hopping onto the dragon's back, Kenichi got ready to travel.

"Fly, Kaishi!" exclaimed the ninja.

Kaishi nodded, and he began to fly away from Konoha.

_About fifteen minutes later..._

Curious, Naruto decided to see how Hinata was doing. Inevitably, she was going to be rather unhappy about the mess she was in, much like he was earlier.

On the way there, he happened to see Erza.

"Hey there, Naruto. Shouldn't you be home by now? Levy told me that she managed to get the interdimensional portal working again." explained the S-Class Mage.

"I'm afraid the interdimensional portal closed again...I'm stranded here along with my friend." said Naruto.

"Sorry to hear that...wait, your friend?" inquired Erza.

"Yeah...she came looking for me...but unfortunately the interdimensional portal closed on her too..." explained Naruto.

"That's too bad...I hope you two can go home soon." said the S-Class mage.

"Thank you." answered the genin as he went to look for Hinata.

Sure enough, he found the kunoichi eating food at the cafeteria...but much to his surprise, she had already eaten enough to cover half the table.

Also, she was no longer wearing her ninja uniform, and was now wearing a short-sleeved black shirt and some black shorts.

"Whoa! Hinata...did you really eat all that food by yourself?" inquired Naruto.

Hinata turned around and noticed Naruto was in the cafeteria with her.

"I don't know, Naruto! Ever since I went through that portal I've had this enormous appetite...that I can't seem to satisfy." explained the kunoichi.

"Sorry to hear that..." answered Naruto.

"Also, I'm feeling really warm...I took my ninja uniform off and left it in a locker...but I'm still sweating a bit." said Hinata.

"Do you have a fever?" inquired the genin.

"Well, other than that I feel f-"

Suddenly, Hinata's right hand caught on fire.

Naruto immediately screamed.

"Huh? What's the matter?" asked the Hyuga clan member.

The genin immediately pointed to Hinata's right hand.

Raising an eyebrow, the kunoichi noticed that her hand was now aflame, and immediately began to panic.

"Aah! Put it out! Put it out!" bellowed Hinata.

"I'll get a fire extinguisher!" screamed Naruto.

Immediately, the ninja went to get a fire extinguisher.

However, at that very moment, Hinata noticed something strange.

"Wait, shouldn't my hand be burning because of the fire?" questioned the kunoichi.

Curious, Hinata decided to see if she could extinguish her hand with her willpower alone. Much to her surprise, she could actually do so.

"How odd." questioned the kunoichi.

Hinata then decided to see if she could ignite her hand again...which she could.

"This is pretty strange..." thought the kunoichi.

A few seconds later, a chef came by with a shocked look on his face.

"Fire! Everyone get out! Fire!" exclaimed the chef.

Immediately, the guildmates began to panic, except for Hinata herself.

"What? A kitchen fire?" inquired the kunoichi.

Sure enough, there appeared to be smoke coming out from the kitchen.

"There's got to be something I can do..." thought the Byakugan wielder.

Curious, she decided to head to the kitchen to see if there was anything that could be done.

Sure enough, the kitchen was smouldering.

"Oh dear..." murmured Hinata.

Suddenly, the Hyuga clan member had a peculiar urge to try putting some of the fire in her mouth.

Curious, Hinata grabbed onto some of the fire and began eating it.

Much to her pleasant surprise, it tasted delicious.

"OK...my day keeps getting weirder and weirder...am I dreaming?" inquired the kunoichi.

Shrugging, Hinata decided to continue eating the fire.

At that very moment, Makarov came into the cafeteria to investigate the reports he had been hearing about a fire.

He was in fact going to ask Natsu to take care of it...but according to Levy he had left not too long ago to retrieve Lucy.

Suddenly, he noticed Naruto carrying a fire extinguisher.

"I'm coming, Hinata! Hang in there!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Naruto? I thought you were going to leave using the interdimensional portal..." spoke Makarov.

"It closed on me again..." spoke the ninja.

The guild master sighed. Why did the interdimensional portal have to use so much magical energy?

"Say, since you're holding onto that fire extinguisher, why don't you do a favor and help me put out the fire?" asked Makarov.

"Sure...I was going to save it for Hinata, though..." explained Naruto.

"Hinata?" inquired the guild master.

"Yeah, she came through the interdimensional portal to look for me and got trapped here too...right now she's right over th-"

Curious, Naruto noticed that she was no longer sitting at the cafeteria table she was before.

"I guess she managed to put out the fire on her hand on her own..." questioned the genin.

Immediately, the former jinchuriki went to the kitchen to put out the fire and busted down the door.

"Right, time to put out the-"

However, much to his surprise, not only had the fire already been put out, but Hinata was standing there in the kitchen rubbing her stomach.

"Hinata? What are you doing in the kitchen? And what happened to the fire?" asked Naruto.

Hinata jumped in surprise.

"Um, hi there Naruto! About that...you see, I went into the kitchen to help put out the fire...and well...I ended up eating it." explained the kunoichi.

"You ate the fire?!" bellowed the genin in astonishment.

At that very moment, Makarov stepped into the kitchen.

"Was there really a fire? Or was this some sort of prank?" questioned the guildmaster.

"I don't believe it...Hinata managed to put out a fire...by consuming the flames!" exclaimed Naruto.

"She did?" inquired Makarov.

"Yes, it's true...I ate the fire...it was the best meal I had in ages..." explained Hinata.

Makarov raised an eyebrow.

"Can I come talk to you for a moment? We need some alone time." asked the guildmaster.

"Um...sure." nodded Hinata.

_A few minutes later..._

"I have reason to believe that you and Natsu, one of my best mages, have become interdimensional partners..." explained Makarov.

"Interdimensional partners?" inquired Hinata.

"Yes...when two people use an interdimensional portal at roughly the same time...they end up acquiring each other's abilities...as well as some of their personality traits...it's already happened once before." said the guildmaster.

"It has?" asked the kunoichi.

"Mm-hmm...in Naruto's case, he's become the interdimensional partner of Lucy Heartfilia, one of our latest recruits." explained Makarov.

"He has?" inquired Hinata.

"So far he's inherited her summoner keys, given his nine-tailed fox to her, obtained her guild mark..."

"My pants! They've ripped!" screamed Naruto in the distance.

"...and has inherited her tendency to suffer clothing damage." explained Makarov.

"That's a lot..." said Hinata.

"Could you lift your right sleeve so that I could see your shoulder for a second?" asked the guildmaster.

"Sure." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, Hinata lifted up her right sleeve.

"Hmm...this is just as I thought." explained Makarov.

"Huh?" asked Hinata.

Curious, the kunoichi decided to look at her shoulder in the nearby mirror...as it turned out, she now had the guild mark on her shoulder.

"You weren't kidding." spoke the Byakugan wielder.

"You also appear to have inherited his fire dragon slayer magic...you should be able to manipulate fire...as well as consume it." said Makarov.

"Well, that's going to take some getting used to." noted Hinata.

At least the fire happened to taste delightful...she was personally tempted to go look for more fire to consume.

Curious, the kunoichi mentioned something about Naruto giving his nine-tailed fox to Lucy, and began to wonder if she had given up her Byakugan to Natsu.

Fortunately, for Hinata, as it turned out, she was still able to use it.

"Thank goodness." said the kunoichi.

However, she remembered that it was entirely possible for more than one ninja to have the Byakugan, and began to wonder if Natsu still had this dojutsu anyway.

"Hmm..." questioned Hinata.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your stay at Fairy Tail...however long that lasts." explained Makarov.

Shrugging, the kunoichi decided to go visit Naruto and tell him the news.

_Kenichi has struck again...and this time, he's killed two ANBU members! Also, he happens to have a dragon on his side, as well as the Rinnegan...not good._

_Also, Hinata happens to have inherited Natsu's fire magic and Natsu happens to have inherited her Byakugan...once again the interdimensional magic has done its job._

_In the next chapter, Hinata's going to accept a mission for Fairy Tail...and unfortunately Natsu and Lucy are going to discover the bodies of the unfortunate child and ANBU members...see you next time!_


	8. Chapter 8: Another Mission

Ninja Tail

_Right...in this chapter, Naruto, Hinata, Gray, and Erza will be going on another mission...that is, they're going away from Fairy Tail again..._

_And yes, so will Lucy and Natsu...they're going on a mission with Team 8 this time._

_Let's watch the show!_

**Chapter 8: Another Mission**

Immediately, Natsu escorted Lucy to the interdimensional portal...but much to their surprise, there was nothing there.

"Natsu...what happened to the interdimensional portal?" inquired the summoner mage.

"Huh?" asked the fire mage curiously.

As it turned out, the interdimensional portal had once again collapsed...thus stranding them both in the world of ninja.

It looks like they wouldn't be going back to the world of magic any time soon, as unfortunate as it was.

"Not again..." murmured Natsu. He was about to rescue Lucy, too. Was there someone out there laughing at him, playing jokes at his expense? He was really starting to get the feeling there just might be someone like that out in the distance.

"What are we going to do?" inquired Lucy. Were she and Natsu going to be stuck in the world of ninja forever?

"Maybe the portal moved? I don't know...this interdimensional magic is starting to confuse me..." explained the fire mage.

"Yeah...I'm starting to wonder how much we actually know about it." spoke the summoner ninja.

"We know that it can take us to other worlds, now can we?" inquired Natsu.

"I believe it can, yes." nodded Lucy.

Curious, Natsu decided to use his new Byakugan to search for the interdimensional portal. Surely it wouldn't have shut down twice in a row, right?

However, instead of finding the interdimensional portal, he instead saw something that utterly terrified him.

"Aah!" screamed the fire mage, his face immediately paling.

"What's the matter?" inquired Lucy.

"I just saw three bodies! They're lying just a short distance away from us!" explained Natsu.

"What?!" asked the summoner kunoichi.

Curious, Natsu and Lucy went to investigate. Sure enough, they saw the bodies of the ANBU duo...as well as the body of Yoshi.

Immediately, Lucy and Natsu both began to feel sick.

"What happened to them?!" screamed the kunoichi.

"I don't know, Lucy...it looks like somebody cut into them with something sharp..." explained Natsu.

"You mean...this is the work of a serial killer?" asked Lucy with fear.

As they quickly discovered, the boy had been stabbed in the neck.

"Who could have done this?" questioned the kunoichi.

"I'm not sure I want to find out..." answered the fire mage. Who would have done such a thing to a child?

"We should tell Lady Tsunade about this..." explained the summoner ninja.

"Lady Tsunade?" inquired Natsu.

"Yes. She's the leader of the Leaf Village." continued Lucy.

"So, she's to the Leaf Village what Makarov is to us?" inquired the fire mage.

"Yes, she is. I have to admit, this world does have a few similarities to our own..." explained the kunoichi.

"It does? Interesting...then again, it doesn't seem to be too far of a distance from ours, considering how quickly I was able to use the interdimensional portal to get here..." noted Natsu.

"I know..." nodded Lucy.

Fortunately for the summoner mage, due to the fact that she was now a ninja, she was able to head towards Konoha very quickly.

She had to admit, she rather enjoyed crossing the treetops.

However, as she quickly remembered, she had to worry about Natsu keeping up with her, since he had not become a ninja yet.

"Wait up, Lucy!" exclaimed the fire mage.

Unfortunately for Lucy, she couldn't simply pick up Natsu and let her ride on her back, since he had motion sickness and would get ill if she tried doing so.

Eventually, she decided to simply tell Natsu where to find the Fifth Hokage's Office, since this was an emergency.

"You can get there by heading north..." explained Lucy. "You'll know the building when you see it." explained the kunoichi.

"OK..." nodded Natsu.

"See you there!" exclaimed Lucy as she continued racing towards Konoha.

"I have to admit...being able to jump like this sure is useful." noted the kunoichi.

Sure enough, she managed to reach the Fifth Hokage's Office very quickly.

"Lady Tsunade! I need you tell something!" exclaimed Lucy.

Tsunade allowed the summoner ninja inside.

"Hello, Lucy. What do you wish to tell me?" inquired the Sannin.

"I've found the bodies of two of your ninja..." explained the kunoichi.

"What? What happened to them?" asked Tsunade.

"I wish I knew...it looks like somebody cut into them...I also found the body of a young boy..." asked Lucy.

"Oh, my..." explained the powerful kunoichi.

"Do you know something about this?" inquired the summoner ninja.

"I believe I sent those two on a mission to retrieve that boy since he had disappeared...you wouldn't have happened to find a third body, now would you?" asked Tsunade.

"No, I did not, why do you ask?" inquired the kunoichi.

"You see, I initially intended to send Hinata Hyuga on this mission alone due to her ability to use the Byakugan to help search for the boy...but since I won some money at poker, I decided to send two ANBU members with her as well." explained Tsunade.

"You won money at poker? Isn't that a good thing?" asked Lucy.

"I'm afraid not...every time I win money...something bad usually happens.. Last week I won a game of blackjack and my apprentice Shizune ended up in the hospital after a horrible accident...thankfully, Sakura was able to heal her...but it was rather frightening nonetheless." explained Tsunade.

"That's terrible." explained Lucy.

"I'm glad that you've told me this...but unfortunately we do not know who managed to kill them...though from what you told me whoever did this was a very powerful ninja." said the Fifth Hokage.

"A powerful ninja? That doesn't sound good." asked the kunoichi.

"Still, I have to wonder where Hinata Hyuga has gone. Did the perpretrator kidnap her? Did they bury her corpse? Are they cannibalistic?" inquired Tsunade.

"Hmm..." questioned Lucy.

At that very moment, Natsu stormed in.

"Here I am, Lucy! I have to admit, my new Byakugan sure is useful." explained the fire mage.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm? Is this a friend of yours?" asked Lady Tsunade curiously.

"Yes, he is. Wait...the Byakugan..." explained Lucy.

Suddenly, the summoner mage recalled how Hinata also happened to possess the Byakugan, and all of a sudden, she knew what had happened.

"I think I know where she went!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Hmm?" inquired Tsunade curiously.

"I think Hinata may have used the interdimensional portal my friend Natsu did..." asked Lucy.

"She did?" asked the kunoichi.

"Yes...remember how I managed to inherit Naruto's nine-tailed fox when he used the same interdimensional portal as me? Well, Natsu's managed to inherit her Byakugan...so he must have become her interdimensional partner!" exclaimed the mage.

"I have? That explains my new nifty pair of eyes..." explained Natsu.

"Interesting...but why would she use the portal?" noted Tsunade.

"Well, she seemed rather close to Naruto...maybe she decided to use the interdimensional portal so that she could look for him." answered Lucy.

"Hmm? Oh, right...how could I have forgotten that. Well, it's good to see that she's still alive..." spoke the Sannin.

"You don't think the killer followed her through the portal, do you?" asked Natsu.

"Probably not...you don't seem to have inherited any of his traits...though admittedly I do not know much about him. Also, didn't the interdimensional portal close shortly after she used it?" inquired Lucy.

"Right...I guess not." explained the fire mage.

"So, is your friend stranded here too?" asked Tsunade.

"I'm afraid so." nodded Lucy.

"I want to go home...Happy needs me!" complained Natsu.

"I'm sure he does...but I'm sure we'll find a way back eventually." explained Lucy.

Immediately, Tsunade handed Natsu a picture of Hinata Hyuga.

"Hmm?" inquired Natsu.

"Let me know if you manage to find her...of course, while I'm at it, I should probably give you a picture of Naruto too...he's been missing longer than Hinata has." noted Tsunade.

Immediately, Tsunade handed Lucy a picture of Naruto.

"Huh. She's cute." thought Natsu as he looked at Hinata's picture.

"Why does he look so much like me? Is he my interdimensional counterpart or something?" questioned Lucy.

Then again, she did happen to be his interdimensional partner.

Agreeing to Tsunade's orders, Natsu and Lucy both left the Fifth Hokage's office. As they did so, Natsu asked himself a question.

"If I inherited her Byakugan...then what did she inherit from me?" inquired Natsu.

_Meanwhile..._

As it turned out, Hinata was licking the flame of a torch as if it were an ice cream cone.

"Hey there, Hinata...are you, er, enjoying that torch?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes I am, Naruto. I have to admit, being stranded in this alternate world has been a bit stressful for me...but I suppose as long as I get to be with you it won't be so bad. You're like a brother to me!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Yeah...you're like a sister to me. So, are you enjoying your new fire abilities?" asked Naruto.

"I am, actually. I feel a lot stronger than I was before..." noted the kunoichi.

"Now that I think of it, I've been feeling the same way too...though admittedly I've lost my nine-tailed fox..." spoke the genin.

"That's right...I sure hope that your tailed beast is in good hands...I don't want it to threaten anyone..." noted the Hyuga clan member.

"Right, of course." nodded Naruto.

At that very moment, Gray came by.

"Have you seen Natsu? I've looked all over for him...I asked Happy and all he responded with were tears..." explained the ice mage.

"Yeah...I've afraid he's with Lucy now." explained the genin.

"What?!" exclaimed Gray.

"Yeah...the interdimensional portal closed on me again while Natsu went to retrieve Lucy...and this time it trapped one of my friends, too." continued Naruto.

"That's terrible..." noted the ice mage.

"Hi there. My name is Hinata." said Hinata.

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Gray..." greeted Gray.

"Strangely enough I happened to have inherited his abilities...Makarov says that I can both manipulate and consume fire now." explained the kunochi.

"Really? Does this mean you can breathe fire...like a dragon?" inquired the ice mage.

Hinata raised an eyebrow.

Curious, she decided to see if she could so...which she did almost instantly.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Yeah...she's like a phoenix now." explained Naruto.

"Maybe we should start referring to you as Phoenix? We always did refer to Natsu as Salamander..." noted Gray.

"Huh? Um, sure." nodded Hinata.

"Alright. See you later, Phoenix." said the ice mage as he left.

"I have to wonder what I'm going to tell my father if I ever get back home." explained Hinata.

"About you becoming a pyromaniac?" inquired Naruto.

"Yeah...something like that." answered the kunoichi.

At that very moment, Chiyoye decided to pay the duo a visit.

"Um, hi there, Chiyoye!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Greetings...I see you brought a friend of yours with you this time." noted Chiyoye.

Hinata raised an eyebrow. Something about this particular mage seemed...off.

"Er, yeah, I did..." spoke Naruto.

"So...about your world...what is it like?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Well, it's a rather ideal world, to say the very least. I usually enjoy it." explained Naruto.

"I see...to be honest, I've rather interested in this particular world of yours...would you mind if I took a tour?" asked Chiyoye.

"I guess...you could go there." answered Naruto.

Hinata raised an eyebrow. Why exactly did she want to enter Naruto's world?

"Good. I'll see you later...once you've managed to get the interdimensional portal running again..." answered Chiyoye.

At that very moment, the mysterious mage began to walk away.

A few minutes later, she noticed Mirajane sitting on a couch nearby. She seemed rather upset about something.

Curious, Hinata walked up a few feet away from her and introduced herself to Mirajane, who told her her name in return.

"Please to meet you. Is something wrong?" asked the kunoichi curiously.

"It's our latest recruit...I just don't understand it..." explained Mirajane.

"Hmm?" inquired Hinata curiously.

"You see...Chiyoye claims to be fifty-six years old...yet she looks as if she's about twenty-five..." inquired the S-Class mage.

"Really? That's odd." noted the kunoichi.

"How does she do it? I wish I could find a way to make myself look younger like that..." asked Mirajane curiously.

"I don't know..." answered Hinata.

Immediately, the Hyuga clan member began to ponder what could that possibly mean.

Curious, she noticed that there was a missing person paper on the table.

"Hmm? A missing person?" asked the kunoichi.

"That's the third of our mages to go missing this week...I wonder where they went?" inquired Mirajane.

"Funny you should mention that...a missing person was the reason I came here... I was investigating the disappearance of a missing boy...and I found the interdimensional portal you were using." explained Hinata.

"Was it now?" inquired Mirajane.

"Of course, I was also looking for Naruto when I used that portal...and well, I managed to find him." said the kunoichi.

"Alright then." nodded the S-Class Mage.

At that very moment, Elfman decided to visit his older sister. He seemed particularly concerned about something.

"Hello there, brother!" exclaimed Mirajane.

"Hey Mirajane. Have you heard about the missing mages?" inquired Elfman.

"Missing mages?" thought Hinata. Was there something rotten going on beneath the guild walls?

"Yes, I have. What could have happened to them all? Did they decide to simply abandon Fairy Tail without telling us? There have been a few members that have done so before..." questioned Mirajane.

Curious, Hinata began to wonder if she should try investigating. Since she had the Byakugan, she'd have an easier job than anyone else in the guild, right?

Shrugging, she decided to continue eating the flame on her torch for the time being...it was rather delicious and she could not help herself. Besides, it was starting to go out, and she didn't want it to go to waste.

"Mmm...tasty." murmured Hinata as she continued licking the flame.

_Meanwhile..._

"Hey, Shikamaru." said Lucy.

"Hey, Lucy? Shouldn't you be back home by now?" inquired the shadow ninja curiously.

"The interdimensional portal closed on me...along with Natsu." explained Lucy.

"Oh...sorry to hear that." answered Shikamaru.

"I sure hope Natsu and I can get back home soon..." noted the summoner mage.

"Yeah...sheesh, what is with that interdimensional portal? It sounds like such a drag..." questioned the shadow ninja.

"Yeah...I'm starting to feel the same way too. So, how are your friends doing?" asked Lucy.

"They're actually a couple now..." explained Shikamaru.

"What?" inquired the summoner mage.

"Yeah...they said that after they accidentally kissed each other on the lips in the pyramid something clicked..." explained the Naru clan member.

"Yeah...where was that pyramid anyway? I can't remember..." said Lucy.

"It was near a city called Ripoffubah...why?" inquired Shikamaru.

"OK..." answered the summoner kunoichi. Why would they name it something like that? For some strange reason, the name sounded rather familiar.

"So, how is your friend doing? He's probably not happy that he's in the same situation as you are..." asked Shikamaru.

"I think he's doing fine...do you know, where he is?" answered Lucy.

"I believe he went to talk to Neji..." answered the shadow ninja.

Lucy immediately went to look for Natsu.

Sure enough, he wasn't too far from where they were, as Lucy quickly discovered.

"So...you're saying that my cousin is all the way in an alternate world?" inquired Neji.

Natsu nodded.

"What am I going to do?" asked the Hyuga clan member in disbelief.

"I'm sorry..." apologized Natsu.

Immediately, Neji went to alert his uncle of the situation.

At that very moment, Kiba and Shino came by. They looked rather depressed.

Immediately, Lucy and Natsu introduced themselves to them.

"My name is Lucy. What's the matter?" asked Lucy.

"We were planning on going on a mission to search for what we believe may be buried treasure...but unfortunately we can't do it without Hinata..." explained Kiba.

"They say that she's completely disappeared off the face of Konoha..." continued Shino.

Immediately, Akamaru began to howl. He seemed rather depressed that Hinata was gone.

Curious, he noticed Lucy and Natsu, and began to bark at them. Apparently, he did not recognize them.

"Can I help you?" asked Natsu.

"That depends...do you have good tracking skills?" inquired Kiba.

"Well, I have the Byakugan." explained the fire mage.

Much to Kiba and Shino's surprise, as it turned out, Natsu could use that particular dojutsu.

"Where did you get that?" inquired Kiba. Somehow, he got the feeling that he wasn't a member of the Hyuga clan, as he did not have black hair. In fact, he was the only person he knew that happened to have pink hair.

"Through the wonders of magic, why?" asked Natsu.

Shino raised an eyebrow. Did he really obtain the Byakugan through magic? He thought that magic only existed in fairy tales.

"Do you think he can help us?" asked the bug user, still curious to how Natsu had managed to obtain the Byakugan.

"I think he likely could give us a hand...why are you asking?" asked the dog user.

"Ruff!" barked Akamaru.

"Alright...we have no idea how you managed to get that Byakugan when you aren't a Hyuga clan member...but you can come along." said Shino.

"Can I come too? Natsu's new to doing missions for Konoha...though admittedly they're similar to those back home." asked Lucy.

"OK...you can come along too...but do you have any skills when it comes to reconnaissance?" inquired Kiba.

"Arf!" exclaimed Akamaru.

"Well, I can summon animals." explained the kunoichi.

"That will do then." nodded Kiba.

"Where are we going?" asked Natsu.

"To a cavern across the sea..." explained Shino.

"Wait, won't we have to use a boat?" inquired Natsu.

"Yes, we will." nodded Kiba.

"I better get my barf bag then..." noted the fire mage.

"Hmm?" asked Shino.

"He suffers from motion sickness." explained Lucy.

"Alright then..." nodded the bug user.

_Meanwhile..._

Once again, Erza and Gray were going on a mission.

"I have to admit...it's going to be rather depressing not going on a mission with Natsu for a while..." noted the ice mage.

"Don't you always fight with him whenever you go on a mission together?" asked Erza.

As it turned out, Erza was wearing her Ice Empress suit of armor for this mission...which oddly enough somewhat resembled her Lightning Empress armor. The sword in question happened to resemble ice as well.

"Yes, but we're still friends, aren't we? We've known each other for ages!" exclaimed Gray.

"True..." nodded Erza.

At that very moment, Naruto and Hinata came in.

"Hey there, you two. How are you doing? Are you here to accept a mission too?" inquired Erza.

"Who is this?" inquired Hinata.

"This is the prettiest girl in the w-I mean Erza!" exclaimed Naruto.

Curious, Hinata noticed that Naruto's cheeks turned red when he mentioned her name.

Immediately, Hinata told Erza her name and shook her hand.

"I decided to nickname her Phoenix..." explained Gray.

"Pleased to meet you...Phoenix." said Erza.

"So, what mission are you two doing?" inquired Hinata.

"We're heading to a village by the name of Icevale so that we can help them with their problems, seems they're suffering from some sort of monster, whoever that may be..." explained the ice mage.

"Yikes..." noted the Hyuga clan member.

"Of course, now that I think of it...I think you would be perfect for that sort of mission." explained Gray.

"Really? How come?" asked the kunoichi.

"You have Natsu's fire magic, don't you? That means you'll plow through whatever ice monsters you come across...and I don't think you'd even need a coat, to be honest. Then again, I know I won't." said Gray.

"Oh yeah..." nodded Hinata. She had to admit, while she was a bit frightened of the fire magic at first, she quickly began to realize just how useful it was.

Of course, it still was going to be a long story to tell to her father and cousin...but she felt that she could live through that. She did survive using an interdimensional portal, didn't she?

"Can I come with? I've just been reunited with her, and, well..." explained Naruto.

"Yes, you can." nodded Erza.

"Yes!" exclaimed the genin.

Immediately, the foursome set out to the village to help them with their problems...after Naruto put on a coat that Mirajane had generously provided him, of course.

Of course, this particular coat had the picture of a kitten on it and was overall rather feminine(and pink, no less)...but he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"There...now I won't freeze to death...thank you, Mirajane!" thought the ninja.

As it turned out, it was north of Fairy Tail.

"It's good to see that these missions have been rather close to the guild so far...I have to admit though...first a jungle, now a tundra?" inquired Naruto.

"I know...Fiore's environment seems to be going a bit crazy as of late." explained Erza.

"Sorry to hear that..." answered the ninja.

Immediately, the four Fairy Tail mages entered the tundra.

It was time for another mission.

_Well, here's the latest chapter. I hope you enjoyed it!_

_In the next chapter, Lucy, Natsu, Shino, and Kiba are going to search for treasure..unaware that someone else wants the treasure as well._

_Oh, and Hinata, Naruto, Gray, and Erza are going to head to Icevale so that they can deal with what's ailing the villagers..._


	9. Chapter 9: Shiver Me Timbers

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...our heroes are going to continue their missions...as before they're going to end up in some rather crazy situations. That's what you want, right?_

_I hope you enjoy!_

**Chapter 9: Shiver Me Timbers**

Naruto, Hinata, Gray, and Erza entered the frozen tundra that lead to Icevale. Sure enough, it was very cold, and Naruto was glad that he had brought a coat.

Personally, he began to wonder what a village was doing out in the cold like this. Wouldn't they want to live somewhere warmer?

Then again, he had visited a jungle earlier that also happened to contain a village...so who was he to judge?

"How many villages are there in your world, anyway? At home we have at least five of them..." inquired the genin.

"Speaking of which, this does actually remind me a bit of my home..." noted Gray, who began to frown.

"Does it now?" asked Erza.

"It sure does." nodded the ice mage. Already, he was feeling homesick.

Immediately, Gray began to take his shirt off, causing Hinata to raise an eyebrow.

"Why is Gray taking his shirt off? Isn't it freezing?" inquired the kunoichi.

"He has a habit of taking off his clothes...he in particular doesn't like wearing a shirt." explained Naruto.

"Why not?" asked Hinata.

"Maybe he thinks he's too sexy for it?" inquired the genin.

"Maybe..." answered Erza.

"That's better! Let's get going now." said Gray.

"How are we going to get to the village anyway? Did you bring a map like before?" inquired Naruto.

As it turned out, Erza did do so.

"Right...according to this map, there's a cable car that we can use to get directly to the village and back..." explained the S-Class mage.

"Really? That's awfully convenient for us." noted Gray.

"I guess they must have known that they were going to receive visitors." questioned Naruto.

Sure enough, there was a cable car in question that lead directly to the village.

However, as Hinata saw the cable car...she began to feel a bit...ill.

"Is something the matter, Hinata?" inquired Naruto.

"Huh? It's nothing." answered Hinata.

Immediately, the four of them began to enter the cable car, and it began to direct them towards the village.

"I have to admit, it sure is nice to get to use this cable car to get to the village...rather than have to go on foot like we did for our last mission." noted Naruto.

"Yeah...isn't that rather convenient for us." nodded Erza.

"Icevale, here we come!" exclaimed Gray.

However, at that very moment, Naruto began to notice that Hinata's face looked a little...green. She also happened to be clutching her stomach. Did she have a stomachache?

"Ugh...my stomach..." said the kunoichi.

"Are you OK, Hinata?" inquired the ninja.

Suddenly, Hinata began to vomit, much to Naruto's surprise.

"Hinata!" exclaimed Naruto.

Sure enough, she appeared to be rather ill.

Gray immediately raised an eyebrow. Why did he get the feeling that he had seen this before?

"What's going on?!" bellowed the genin.

As it turns out, Erza knew the answer.

"Oh dear...I think you've inherited more than Natsu's fire magic, Phoenix..." said the Requip mage.

"What?" inquired Hinata curiously.

"You see, Natsu happened to suffer from motion sickness that affected him whenever he tried using a method of transporation...a car, a truck, a motorbike, you name it." explained Erza.

"I see..." nodded the kunoichi.

"Of course, now that you've become his interdimensional partner, you seemed to have inherited that from him as well." continued the S-Class mage.

"Ugh..." murmured Hinata. That was rather unfortunate.

"It's OK, Hinata! We'll be off this cable car in no time...we won't make you use one again..." said Naruto.

"But how will we get back?" inquired the kunoichi.

"We're ninja! We can just jump across the tundra...Erza and Gray can use the cable car again and we'll all be happy." explained Naruto.

"Good idea..." nodded Gray.

"Let's hope that works..." said Hinata, who at this point was lying on the floor.

Suddenly, the cable car began to stop.

"Huh? Why are we stopping? I don't think we're at the village yet." explained Gray.

Oddly enough, Hinata seemed rather relieved by it.

"Thank goodness..." murmured the kunoichi.

"What could have stopped the cable car?" questioned Erza.

Curious, Naruto looked out one of the windows, and screamed in horror.

As it turned out, it was none other than what appeared to be the Abominable Snowman.

"It's the Abominable Snowman!" exclaimed the genin.

Curious, Erza looked out the window, and discovered that a Vulcan had latched onto their cable car.

"Well, we might be in trouble." noted the knight in shining armor.

Immediately, the Vulcan detached the cable car from its cable, causing Naruto, Hinata, Gray, and Erza to fall.

"Aah!" screamed Naruto.

"Whoa!" bellowed Hinata.

"Eek!" exclaimed Gray.

"Sheesh." murmured Erza.

Fortunately for our four heroes, none of them were terribly injured by the cable car crash, though it wasn't a pleasant experience nonetheless.

However, they still had to worry about the Vulcan, who was punching through the metal like nobody's business.

"We had better get ready to fight..." noted Naruto, pulling out a kunai.

"Right, of course." nodded Hinata, putting her hand on fire.

Gray immediately pulled out some icicles while Erza pulled out her ice sword.

Naruto began to summon shadow clones to attack the Vulcan. Sure enough, they seemed to hinder him...though unfortunately he was able to make them all explode into smoke with one punch each.

Unfortunately for Gray and Erza, they didn't seem to be doing much damage to the Vulcan.

"Why isn't my ice magic working?" inquired the ice mage.

Immediately, the Vulcan punched Gray and sent him flying.

"Waugh!" screamed Gray.

"Oh, dear." noted Erza. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be in too much pain, though admittedly he landed facefirst in the snow.

"Hmm...maybe I should try a different sword." noted the knight in shining armor.

On the other hand, Hinata's fire magic was doing quite nicely. In fact, it was making the Vulcan screech.

"I guess I really was made for this mission." though the kunoichi.

Curious, Erza tried switching out her Ice Empress sword with her Flame Empress sword before attacking the Vulcan again.

This worked surprisingly well. Once again, the sasquatch began to screech.

"Why didn't I think of this before?" inquired Erza.

"I'm still not hurting it..." noted Gray.

Immediately, Naruto hit the Vulcan with his Rasengan, causing it to collapse on the floor.

"Did we get it?" inquired the genin.

Thankfully, it appeared that they did.

"Wait...don't Vulcans usually travel in packs?" questioned Erza.

"We might want to get out of here then..." noted Hinata.

Sure enough, they began to hear what appeared to be howling in the distance.

Fortunately for Hinata, she was feeling a lot better now that she didn't have to use the cable car, and was able to leap across the snow with ease, much like Naruto himself.

Unfortunately for Gray and Erza, they did not have this sort of luxury.

"Wait for us!" demanded Gray.

"Don't leave us behind!" commanded Erza.

Naruto and Hinata sweatdropped.

"Oh that's right...you can't leap like we can, now can you?" inquired the ninja.

Oddly enough, Hinata did not feel motion sick when she leapt like a tiger.

"I guess it only occurs when I'm in vehicles..." thought the kunoichi.

Shrugging, she decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

After picking up Gray and Erza so that they could get to Icevale, the four members of Fairy Tail found themselves at their destination.

"So, what's their problem?" asked Naruto curiously.

Sure enough, the mayor of the town made his appearance. He was wearing a top hat, a tuxedo, and a monocle, and also happened to be carrying a cane.

"Can we help you?" asked Gray.

"Yes, you can. My name is Ebemener Scourge." explained the mayor.

"Ebemener Scourge?" inquired Hinata.

"First of all, thanks for accepting my request...is there anything I can do for you?" inquired the man.

"Well, I'm kind of hungry." answered the kunoichi.

"Yes, yes! You can have something to eat." nodded the mayor.

"Sounds good..." noted Naruto.

Unfortunately, he got the feeling that the mayor did not have ramen, which was a shame, because he was looking forward to having some.

Fortunately, he was proven wrong.

"Yes!" exclaimed Naruto as he began to consume the ramen.

As it turns out, Erza was eating some cake...rather messily.

"Er, you might want to eat a bit more slowly, Erza...wouldn't want you to choke." suggested Naruto.

"You should tell that to your friend Hinata." answered Erza.

"Huh?" asked the genin.

As it turned out, Hinata had once again eaten about half the food on the table.

"Good grief, Hinata! It's only been a hour since we first went on this mission!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I know, Naruto. I've become such a glutton...I feel like Choji." noted Hinata.

"Just how much did you eat?!" exclaimed the genin.

"Well, I ate some turkey...I ate some ham...I ate some pudding...I ate two bananas...and I think I just ate the roast beef." answered Hinata.

"Sheesh!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Yeah...I hope the mayor doesn't mind." noted the kunoichi.

Fortunately for the sake of the mayor's budget, Gray simply wanted an ice cream cone...which he had in bulk.

"I guess living in a snowy town has its perks. Then again, I should know." noted the ice mage.

Immediately, Gray began to sigh.

After they had finished eating (which due to Hinata took forever and a day), they decided to see what the mayor wanted from them.

Immediately, he showed them a picture of a horrible monster that oddly enough vaguely resembled Santa Claus. The monster in question dressed exactly like him...however, rather than wearing a red and white outfit, he was instead wearing a green and black outfit.

Also, his skin happened to be grey, his eyes happened to be red instead of white, his beard happened to be grey as well, and he had sharp claws on his hands instead of gloves.

"Yikes." thought Naruto.

Underneath the picture was the monster's name...which as it turns out was "Phanta Claws."

"Phanta Claws?" inquired Hinata curiously.

"I'm afraid he's terrorizing my people...he feeds my citizens to his flesh-eating reindeer, attacks them with his army of evil toys built by his army of evil elves, terrorizes children with his right-hand snowman Frosty the Mankiller, and puts coal in our stockings!" exclaimed Ebemener Scourge.

"That's terrible..." noted Gray.

"Yes...I'm requesting you to slay this monster so that we can all sleep peacefully..." said the mayor.

"Sure...where can we find him?" inquired Naruto.

Ebemener Scrooge showed them a picture of his scary-looking factory with Phanta Claws' face carved onto it.

"Well, that factory certainly doesn't look pleasant..." murmured the genin.

"Please! We really need your help! We're never going to have a merry Christmas again with him around!" exclaimed the mayor.

"Right, of course." nodded Hinata.

"You can count on us!" bellowed Gray.

"Believe it!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I never thought that we'd get a mission that involved saving Christmas...but we will do as you say." spoke Erza.

Immediately, the foursome left the mayor's house, unaware that as they did so that a broad smile was beginning to appear on his face.

_Meanwhile..._

Shikamaru was pondering the events that had been unfolding lately. Not long after a girl from another world had entered his life, she had brought a friend with her.

He had to wonder...how exactly did interdimensional portals work, anyway? Did they really take people across from one world or another?

Personally he wanted to research them...he began to wonder just how many worlds there were anyway. Were there a dozen? A hundred? A thousand?

He began to recall how Lucy had inherited many of Naruto's abilities when she used the same interdimensional portal as he did, and began to wonder if he would become stronger if he used an interdimensional portal as well.

At that very moment, his sensei decided to pay you a visit.

"Hey there, Shikamaru! How are you doing as jonin? I'm very proud of you." said Asuma.

"I'm fine. Have you heard the news?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"Yes. Naruto and Hinata have both vanished due to an interdimensional portal...and in their two place two strangers have arrived, am I correct?" explained the jonin.

Shikamaru nodded.

"Who would have thought something like this would happen one day?" asked the Nara clan member.

"I suppose there's some things about the universe that we don't understand..." nodded the sensei.

"I just hope that Naruto and Hinata are doing fine...Lucy and Natsu seem to be adapting well, at least. Then again, considering that Lucy and Natsu have inherited some of their abilities, they may have inherited some of theirs as well." noted Shikamaru.

"I actually didn't know that an interdimensional portal could do that..." questioned Asuma.

"We didn't even know that they existed until about a week ago..." answered the shadow ninja.

"True..." nodded Shikamaru's sensei.

"Would you like to play a game of shogi? Lucy actually managed to beat me a few times to be honest." explained the shadow ninja.

"She did? She must be a genius..." questioned Asuma.

"Well, from what I do know about her...she does seem to be rather smart." noted Shikamaru.

"Your move." said the Sarutobi clan member.

_Near the ocean..._

"So, this is the boat we're going to use? I have to admit, it looks fairly expensive..." spoke Lucy.

As it turned out, this particular boat was a frigate with several cannons on it in case the crew ever got attacked.

"Yeah...Lady Tsunade actually won this boat in a raffle...of course, a few days afterwards somebody TPed the Hokage Monument." explained Kiba.

"The Hokage Monument?" inquired Natsu.

"Yes, it's right over there." nodded Shino, pointing to where the monument was.

Sure enough, there was a mountain that had the faces of all the Hokages carved onto it, including Lady Tsunade.

"I wish we had a mountain like that back home..." noted the fire mage.

"Maybe we will some day." answered Lucy.

"She was actually going to sell this frigate for money...but we told her that she could make more money if we used it to look for buried treasure." explained Kiba.

"You'd be surprised what you can find out in the seas." noted Shino.

Immediately, the four entered the frigate. Already, Natsu was starting to vomit.

"Natsu, the boat hasn't even started moving yet!" exclaimed the mage.

"It hasn't?" inquired Natsu curiously.

Suddenly, the boat began to move, and the fire mage began to clutch his stomach.

"Ugh..." murmured the dragon slayer.

Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"This isn't going to be a long trip...is it?" asked the mage.

"The island isn't too far from here...why do you ask?" inquired Shino.

"I just don't want Natsu to suffer too much..." answered Lucy.

"Look at all the stars...they're swirling around my head...isn't it beautiful?" inquired Natsu.

"Yeah...we might want to get there soon..." nodded Kiba.

"Arf!" exclaimed Akamaru.

Fortunately for Natsu, it wasn't a long trip to the island, as Shino said. However, as they quickly discovered, they weren't the only ones searching for the treasure.

Suddenly, they began to hear noises coming from a nearby ship.

"Hmm?" inquired Lucy.

Curious, Shino decided to take a look...and he immediately went to warn the rest of his group.

"We're in big trouble." warned Shino.

"Huh?" asked Lucy.

Suddenly, the mysterious ship began to fire cannonballs at them.

"Wah!" exclaimed the summoner mage.

"Yarr!" bellowed the captain of the ship.

Curious, Lucy looked at the ship, and discovered that there was a pirate flag on top.

"We're under attack by pirates!" exclaimed the summoner kunoichi.

"I'm afraid that ninjas have been under attack by pirates for years." explained Shino.

"Huh?" asked Lucy.

Shino immediately handed Lucy a ninja history book, directing it towards the page showing a boy wearing a straw hat, a sleeveless red vest, and blue trousers with a monkey-like face strangling none other than Naruto Uzumaki, who was strangling him in return.

"How did he get into this history book?" questioned the kunoichi.

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest." answered Shino.

"Did he use time travel? I believe you warned him not to try that..." noted Kiba.

"It's true, I did." nodded the bug user.

"I'm afraid ninjas and pirates never seem to get along..." said the dog user.

"Ruff." murmured Akamaru.

At that very moment, their sailor decided to jump overboard.

"Every man for himself!" exclaimed the seaman.

"Some sailor he was." noted Lucy.

Unfortunately, this left them without anybody to steer the boat, leaving them a sitting duck against the pirate ship.

"What do we do? We're going to sink if we keep letting them shoot us!" bellowed Kiba.

"One of us is going to have to steer the ship so that we can avoid the cannonballs..." answered Shino.

Lucy sighed.

"I guess I'll volunteer." answered the mage.

Immediately, she grabbed onto the steering wheel and began to move away from the pirate ship.

Unfortunately, the pirate ship continued to pursue them.

"Don't let the landlubbers get away!" bellowed the pirate captain.

Curious, Natsu decided to use his Byakugan to see how many pirates were on the ship. As it turned out, there were about a dozen.

"Uh-oh..." thought the fire mage.

Oddly enough, one of the pirates happened to have blood on his beard...incidentally, he appeared to be the captain.

"Hmm...that pirate captain has blood on his beard." noted Natsu.

"What?" inquired Kiba.

As Shino explained to Natsu, it was none other than the notorious pirate captain Captain Bloodbeard, whose beard was said to be stained with the blood of his many victims...as his name implied.

"I'm going to make ye all walk the plank! Have fun in Davy Jones' locker, ye landlubbers!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard.

Natsu's teeth immediately began to chatter. He was up against a cold-blooded nautical predator!

"Seeing though you have fire magic, maybe you could try setting the ship on fire? I heard that fire was the last thing that you would want on one of those..." suggested Kiba.

"Um, are you sure I can hit him from here? It's kind of far away..." asked Natsu nervously.

Shino raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm...Natsu may have inherited Hinata's lack of self-confidence..." explained the bug user.

"Lack of self-confidence?" inquired Lucy curiously as she tried to avoid the cannonballs.

"Well, back when we first met her, Hinata did not believe in herself. She believed that she wasn't going to help us and that she was only going to slow us down..." continued Shino.

"It was a shame...she was actually rather helpful towards us...we would have had a much harder time without her." noted Kiba.

Akamaru nodded.

"Of course, she beat a missing-nin to death with her bare hands the week before we ended up being separated from her, so maybe he'll eventually outgrow it. I don't know." answered the dog user.

"I can hope so." answered Lucy.

Reluctantly, Natsu tossed a fireball at the ship. Unfortunately, due to his prior seasickness and the fact that he no longer believed in himself, it wasn't nearly as powerful as it could have been.

Nonetheless, it was still able to do a fair amount of damage. The pirates frantically began to put out the fire, which was already beginning to spread.

At that very moment, Lucy decided to ask if there were any leaks on the boat.

Curious, Kiba decided to look down to check. So far there were three cannonball holes inside the ship's hull.

Sure enough, there was some water entering the boat. Natsu began to panic.

"We're going to drown! We're going to drown!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"Not only has Natsu lost his confidence, he's become high-strung." noted Lucy.

"Looks that way." nodded Shino.

Fortunately, there was a bilge pump inside the boat that they could try to use to control the flooding. Kiba and Akamaru began to work together to help prevent the boat from sinking.

As for Shino, he decided to summon his bugs to see if they could provide him with some supplies to repair the ship with.

Thankfully, they were able to do so.

"Have we stopped the flooding?" inquired Kiba.

"I believe so...but they may be planning to fire at us again. Keep using the pump." warned Shino.

Kiba and Akamaru nodded while Shino repaired the ship. Oddly, they no longer heard the cannons firing.

Deciding to investigate, Shino discovered the pirates were still trying to put out the fire, and they weren't being attacked at the moment.

"That's fortunate." noted Shino.

Curious, the Abarume clan member recalled that the frigate had cannons of its own, and wondered if they should try launching a counterattack.

Unfortunately, though the cannons were already loaded (and had ammo to spare), there were no matches to light the cannons with.

"Why didn't they put some onboard?" wondered Shino.

Fortunately, he quickly realized that they had a remedy for that.

"Natsu, I would really appreciate it if you lit the cannons for us." said the bug user.

"But what if we miss?!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Natsu, if you just stand around and do nothing, these hooligans are going to sink our ship!" bellowed Lucy.

"OK..." answered the fire mage.

Immediately, Natsu lit the cannons, causing an extensive amount of damage to the already damaged ship.

"Aargh!" exclaimed Captain Bloodbeard.

Shino continued reloading the cannons while the fire mage reluctantly continued to light them, and eventually, the pirate ship sank into the depths of the ocean.

"Yes!" bellowed Lucy.

Unfortunately, it appeared that they weren't out of trouble yet. As it turns out, the pirates had brought lifeboats with them in case of an emergency.

"Ye landlubbers sunk me battleship! For that, yer gonna die!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard.

"He sure is persistent." noted Lucy.

"Maybe we should look for a way to pop them? They look like they've been inflated." asked Shino.

Shrugging, the summoner kunoichi pressed her hand on the ground to see if she could summon sea creatures as well as land ones.

Fortunately, this was the case. Immediately, sharks began to attack the lifeboats, causing them to burst.

"Yaarrrr!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard.

To make matters worse for the pirate captain, three of his crew members could not swim.

"Help us!" screamed one of the pirates.

"We're drowning!" exclaimed another pirate.

"Save me!" screamed yet another pirate.

For a moment, Captain Bloodbeard considered helping them...only to find that they had already drowned.

Letting out a sigh, he commanded his crew to grapple the ship so that they could climb aboard.

"Incoming!" bellowed Shino.

"Oh no..." murmured Lucy.

"They've got swords! We're going to get cut to ribbons!" screamed Natsu.

Lucy sighed.

Fortunately, Kiba and Akamaru were able to detect the pirates due to their powerful sense of smell (who strangely enough happened to smell like seaweed), and they were able to join their friends in a battle royale.

At that very moment, Lucy let go of the steering wheel so that they could help her friends fight.

"Well, I guess it's time to show them who the real landlubbers are..." noted Lucy.

_Naruto and his friends have been sent on a mission to save Icevale from a Santa Claus-esque monster...and of course, Lucy and her friends are being attacked by pirates._

_In the next chapter, well, we're going to continue where we left off. Sound like a plan?_


	10. Chapter 10: Holiday Hijinxs

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Team Natsu (er, Team Naruto) is going to head towards Phanta Claws's factory in order to stop him from ruining Christmas...but it's not going to be a simple matter of punching him in the stomach and moving on with it. Otherwise this chapter wouldn't be very long..._

_And of course, Lucy, Natsu and Team 8 (sans Hinata, who oddly enough is part of the aforementioned team) are going to continue battling the pirates...and don't worry...they're not going to end up as zombies because the treasure is cursed...this is the world of ninja we're speaking of, not the world of magic._

_Also, Chiyoye is going to show up again...in case you haven't figured it out yet, she's up to no good._

**Chapter 10: Holiday Hijinxs**

Deciding to take a break from working on the interdimensional portal (which thankfully, she would be able to get operating again soon), Levy decided to read a book.

In this case, it was about Fairy Tail's history.

She had heard that more Fairy Tail recruits had disappeared...she was really starting to get rather worried. She hoped that the book would get her mind off of it.

She in particular was looking forward about reading about how Fairy Tail came to be.

"It's a bit hard to believe that we weren't nearly as big of a guild as we were today...but I suppose we all have to start somewhere." spoke the leader of Team Shadow Gear.

"Do we now?" inquired a voice.

Curious, Levy looked around, and noticed that Chiyoye was standing a few feet away from her, much to her surprise.

"Chiyoye! You scared me!" exclaimed the bookworm.

"My apologies." answered the mage.

Levy immediately noticed that Fairy Tail's guild mark had been placed right over Chiyoye's forehead.

"So, is there anything you wanted me to help you with? In about half an hour from now I need to go see my teammates...they say that they wanted my help with something." asked Levy curiously.

"Oh, I just wanted to know what was behind that door." explained Chiyoye.

"Hmm?" inquired the mage.

Curious, the leader of Team Shadow Gear noticed that the mage was referring to the classified door not too far from where was sitting.

"Er, I'm afraid you can't go behind that door. Only S-Class Mages are allowed in there." explained Levy.

"Are they now?" inquired Chiyoye.

"Yes...the spellbooks inside that room were entrusted to us by the Magic Council themselves. They said that they would be dangerous if they ended up in the wrong hands...why do you ask?" asked the 17-year old.

"Oh, I was just wondering." answered the recruit.

"To be honest, our guildmaster assigned me as the leader of Team Shadow Gear...but he's still hesitant to let me in there...said that there were some books he didn't want anyone in this guild to have...not even Erza." explained Levy.

"Well, I'll be seeing you then..." nodded Chiyoye as she left the library.

"Hmm..." questioned the leader of Shadow Gear. Was she hiding something from her?

Shrugging, she decided to continue reading her book.

"You know...it's funny...our interdimensional portal happens to be the exact same color as our guild mark...what a coincidence." noted Levy.

_Meanwhile..._

Unfortunately for Naruto and his friends, they had attracted an attention of a pack of wolves.

"I wonder why the wildlife keeps trying to kill us..." noted the genin.

"First the tiger, and now this..." questioned Erza.

"I'm starting to wish that my partner Kiba was here...he knows canines like the back of his hand." noted Hinata.

"Does he now?" inquired Gray.

Immediately, one of the canines bit Naruto in the hand.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the ninja.

"At this rate I'm going to get my shirt ripped off again..." thought the genin.

Fortunately, it appeared that the wolves weren't going to do them much harm...considering the fact that Hinata was summoning a flame barrier to protect them from their fangs.

"There...let's see them jump over that..." answered the kunoichi.

Sure enough, most of the wolves weren't willing to try doing so.

"Good thinking, Hinata." noted Gray.

"Yes...it looks like they're retreating." nodded Erza.

"Oddly they seem rather worried about something..." noted Naruto.

Suddenly, they began to hear the sounds of sleigh bells ringing.

"Huh? Is Phanta here?" inquired the genin.

Curious, Hinata used her Byakugan to see if Phanta Claws was indeed coming.

However, as it turns out, it was simply some of his reindeer.

"He's not here Naruto. Just his reindeer." explained the kunoichi.

"Aww..." complained Naruto.

Curious, Hinata noticed that one of the reindeers had a rather peculiar-looking nose. It appeared to be...glowing.

"Hmm?" inquired the kunoichi.

Taking a closer look, Hinata discovered that the reindeer was charging for an attack.

"Everybody get down! Everybody get down!" warned Hinata.

Immediately, Erza and Gray took cover. Unfortunately, it appeared that Naruto had a bit of trouble catching on.

"I don't recall this being a dance floor..." questioned the genin.

Getting a bit...desperate, Hinata tackled Naruto to the ground.

It was not a moment too soon, as the shiny-nosed reindeer immediately shot a laser beam at the foursome.

"Thanks for warning us..." noted Gray.

"What kind of reindeer is that?!" bellowed Naruto.

"According to the mission guide, he is known as Rudolf the Laser-Shooting Reindeer...the other reindeer wouldn't let him play in their reindeer games because of his nose...so he began to violently kill them." explained Erza.

"That's rather petty, don't you think?" questioned Hinata.

"Yeah...it was specifically why he was chosen by Phanta to guide his sleigh...well, that, and the fact that he can shoot lasers out of his nose." continued the knight.

Sure enough, Rudolf was getting ready for another round of lasers...but thankfully our heroes were prepared this time.

However, he wasn't alone. Immediately, reindeer began to fly over the fire barrier.

"Oh, that's right...they can fly, can't they?" inquired Gray.

"Yes, they can." nodded Erza.

Immediately, the reindeer began to attack our heroes, hoping to devour their flesh.

"I can't believe Phanta Claws would use these ferocious creatures just to drive his sleigh..." noted Naruto.

"He's a psychopath." nodded Erza.

Sure enough, one of the reindeer tried to take a bite out of Gray's arm...who found himself being frozen for his trouble.

"Who would have thought that Christmas Eve was going to be such a nightmare?" questioned the ice mage.

"I know..." nodded Hinata.

More reindeer appeared...by the looks of it they were trying to trample them.

"Keep your distance!" warned Erza.

Curious, Naruto decided to see if he could summon anything that would give them an edge against man-eating reindeer.

Eventually, he came across a key that had the crest of the ram on it. Much like Aquarius's key, it happened to be golden.

"Here goes nothing." noted the genin.

Immediately, Aries appeared in a burst of yellow light.

"Greetings!" exclaimed Naruto.

Aries immediately noticed the man-eating reindeer looking at her hungrily. Apparently they were in the mood for lamb chops.

"Are you sure that I can take these reindeer on? They look rather...vicious." questioned the sheep.

"I'm starting to feel a strange sense of deja vu..." noted Hinata.

"Of course you can! You're a summon spirit!" exclaimed the genin.

"OK...I'll give it a shot. Wish me luck..." answered the ram spirit.

Immediately, Aries used her Wool Bomb technique, which utterly devastated the reindeer. She immediately let out a sigh of relief.

"Will you help us defeat Phanta Claws?" inquired Naruto.

"Who is Phanta Claws?" inquired the ram spirit curiously.

"A ferocious monster...who happens to look somewhat like Santa." answered the genin.

"Sorry, I can't do it." answered the spirit.

"Very well..." sighed Naruto as he recalled his summon. It looks like he was going to have to use another summon spirit if he wanted to continue fighting Phanta Claws.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Rudolf was now going to deal with them himself. He immediately flew over the fire barrier and begin to fire a barrage of laser beams at them.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed Gray. Those lasers burned his skin.

"Ugh..." murmured Hinata. That was one tough reindeer.

Oddly enough, Rudolf happened to remind her of somebody that she knew...though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

At that very moment, the laser-firing reindeer began to charge up another laser.

However, this time Erza was prepared.

"Let's see how he likes a shield with a reflective surface..." said the knight in shining armor.

Immediately, she used her shield to deflect the laser right back at Rudolf...

...who collapsed on the floor in a heap.

"I guess he won't be bothering us anymore." noted Naruto.

"Let's keep going." agreed Gray.

Immediately, the foursome continued to Phanta's Factory.

_Meanwhile..._

"Yer no match for me crew, ye landlubbers!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard as he drew his sword.

"We're not letting you take our ship!" exclaimed Kiba.

"Arf!" bellowed Akamaru.

"Why does he keep calling us landlubbers?" asked Lucy curiously.

"He sure loves saying that word..." noted Shino.

"I'm scared!" bellowed Natsu.

"To be honest, we all are at some level. They're total lunatics." nodded the summoner mage.

"Attack!" bellowed the pirate captain.

Immediately, the pirates began to swing their swords at the crew. In retaliation, Shino began attacking the pirates with his bugs.

"This is worse than when we got scurvy!" bellowed one of the pirates.

"Get them off me! Get off!" exclaimed another pirate.

"I normally use those bugs for espionage...but since we're under attack by bloodthirsty criminals..." noted Shino.

At that very moment, Captain Bloodbeard lunged towards Kiba.

Thankfully, Akamaru stopped him by biting him into his right leg...as his left leg was a pegleg.

"Yeowch! Get him, Patchy!" screamed the captain.

At that very moment, a parrot began attacking Akamaru, who began to howl. The bird was surprisingly ferocious.

Realizing that her friends (both old and new) needed her help, Lucy began to summon animals to attack the pirates.

In this case, they were a pack of sea lions.

"Yarr! What in Davy Jones' locker?!" screamed the pirates as the sea lions began to attack them.

Oddly enough, the sea lions were bouncing the pirates around on their noses.

"Well, that should keep them busy..." noted Lucy.

However, at that very moment, a pirate with thick, bulging muscles (who may or may not have been on steroids) grabbed the summoner mage so that she couldn't move.

"Let go of me, you pervert!" screamed the kunoichi.

"Hahaha!" laughed the pirate.

Fortunately for Lucy, she always had a certain fire mage to help her out whenever she ended up in terrible situations...

...or did she?

However, as it turned out, Natsu was cowering in fear.

"If the big fish don't give me, the sea will! They're going to make me walk the plank for sure!" bellowed the fire mage.

"Natsu...um, can you do me a favor? This pirate is kind of...squeezing the breath out of me." asked Lucy curiously.

"But he'll beat me up!" exclaimed Natsu.

"You're one of our best mages...a measly pirate shouldn't be a match for you!" answered the summoner mage.

"Are you sure?" asked the fire mage.

Lucy nodded.

His hands trembling, Natsu punched the pirate in the face.

"Aargh!" screamed the raider.

Naturally, this freed the summoner mage from his iron grip.

"Thanks..." answered Lucy.

Natsu returned to cowering in fear, causing the kunoichi to sigh.

Fortunately for the quartet, it appeared that the pirates had decided to retreat for the time being using their emergency lifeboats.

"We'll be back later, ye landlubbers!" exclaimed Captain Bloodbeard.

"I'm getting tired of you calling me that." answered Lucy.

Sure enough, Patchy the Parrot returned to his master once more.

"How long do you think they'll be gone?" inquired Kiba.

"They might be planning on returning once they're learned where they can locate the treasure." suggested Shino.

"I see..." nodded Lucy.

"We had better make sure we're ready then." nodded Kiba.

"Ruff!" agreed Akamaru.

"Right...of course..." nodded Natsu.

_Meanwhile..._

"Well, this is the factory...it's even scarier than it was in the picture that Ebemener Scourge gave us..." spoke Naruto.

"Yes, I know..." nodded Hinata.

Sure enough, there was a large amount of smoke coming out from the pipes in the chimney.

"Not doing favors for the environment, now is it?" questioned Erza.

"We might want to get an umbrella in case they're acid rain." nodded Gray.

"Say, do you hear something?" asked Naruto curiously.

At that very moment, Frosty the Mankiller jumped down in front of them.

Immediately, he let out a roar, causing the teenage ninja to gasp.

"It's Frosty the Mankiller!" screamed the genin.

Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"Does he kill women too?" inquired the kunoichi.

Hinata's question was answered when Frosty tried to rip her face off.

"Sheesh." thought the Hyuga clan member.

Unfortunately, Frosty the Mankiller was not alone. Evil snowmen began to pop out of the ground.

"I wish we had a snowblower right about now. To think I built some of these when I was a child..." noted Gray.

"Talk about irony." agreed Erza.

Immediately, the evil snowmen began to attack the foursome.

"Who would have thought that snowballs would be so painful?" questioned Naruto as he began to duck and cover.

Fortunately, Hinata was able to melt the snowmen...but more of them kept on coming.

Curious, she began to wonder if she should try attacking Frosty directly. He was the snowman summoning them, after all.

Unfortunately, much to her surprise, her fire attacks didn't seem to be harming him much. He simply used the snow around him to heal himself whenever he found himself wounded.

"This is becoming a war of attrition..." noted Erza as she continued cutting through the snowmen.

Suddenly, Hinata noticed that Frosty was wearing what appeared to be a magical hat. Maybe she should try attacking there?

It seemed as good of an idea as any, as her friends were rapidly being overwhelmed by the snowmen. Naruto was running away from a snowman driving a zamboni, Gray was (strangely enough) being terrorized by a snowman with a snowblower, and last but not least, Erza was being run over by a snowman driving a snow plow.

"I guess it's up to me." noted Hinata.

Immediately, she tossed a fireball at Frosty's hat.

The hat immediately fell on the floor...which caused the snowman to revert back into normal.

Consequently, this caused the other snowmen to turn back to normal as well...much to the relief of Hinata's teammates.

"That was close..." noted Naruto. Who would have thought that they were going to be attacked by killer snowmen?

Curious, Hinata noticed that there appeared to be evil magic radiating from Frosty's hat, and began to pick it up curiously.

"Here's hoping he doesn't end up possessing my body..." thought the kunoichi.

Fortunately, nothing like that happened...in fact, the evil magic inside the hat began to disappear.

"That's a relief." noted Hinata.

Curious, she decided to put the hat back on Frosty again...who oddly enough did not seem to be much of a mankiller anymore.

Immediately, he began to hop away.

"That was strange..." noted Gray.

"At least he won't be bothering Icevale anymore...hopefully." answered Naruto.

Erza opened the door to Phanta's workshop.

"What exactly are we going to find in here?" thought the magic knight.

Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be pleasant.

_Meanwhile..._

After entering the island where the treasure was allegedly located, the foursome began to search for the treasure.

Kiba and Akamaru used their powerful sense of smell, Shino used his bugs, Lucy used her summons, and Natsu...well, he mostly cried like a baby.

"C'mon Natsu! I'm sure we can find the treasure if you help us!" exclaimed the summoner mage.

"But what if we don't?!" exclaimed the fire mage.

Lucy sighed.

"Don't tell me you're giving up this easily..." answered the summoner.

"Fine...but don't expect me to succeed in finding it..." answered Natsu as he began to use his enhanced senses.

Immediately, they entered the cavern...and were attacked by a flock of bats. Well, Shino was anyway.

"I'm starting to question having so many bugs inside me is really such a good idea." noted the bug user.

"Yeah..." nodded Kiba as he began to help his comrade fend off the flying mammals.

"Why are bats the only mammals that can fly?" inquired Lucy as she began to summon some owls.

"That's a question that I'm not quite sure of myself." nodded Shino.

"These bats are scaring me..." noted Natsu.

Immediately, the owls began to attack the bats, causing them to retreat.

"It's a good thing that bats have natural predators..." acknowledged Lucy.

"Yes." agreed Shino.

"Now that I think of it...it is rather dark in here." noted Kiba.

"I'm scared!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Then use your fire as a torch." answered Lucy.

Natsu immediately set his hand on fire to light up the cave.

"That's better." nodded Kiba.

"Arf!" exclaimed Akamaru. Personally he never really had to rely on his sight to begin with...he just had to use his hearing and his sense of smell.

Nonetheless, he was glad that they had a light source. That way, they wouldn't have any...accidents.

Curious, the foursome continued into the cavern to see if they could find anything that would lead them to the treasure.

However, as it turns out, there were some...boobytraps.

"This is the pyramid all over again!" thought Lucy.

Immediately, a boxing glove emerged from the ground and punched Kiba in the stomach.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the dog user.

Akamaru whimpered out of concern for his master.

"We might want to proceed...slowly." noted Shino.

"Are we going to die?" asked Natsu.

"I would like to think that we aren't." answered Lucy.

Already, sweat was beginning to fall down the fire mage's face.

"I'm starting to wonder what I should tell my guildmates if I ever get back home..." thought the kunoichi.

If this kept up, Natsu wasn't going to want to go on missions...and everyone was going to suffer for it.

Hopefully he would eventually turn back to his old self...or at least stop being so frightened all the time.

At that very moment, a can of bug spray appeared and sprayed itself in Shino's face.

"Agh!" exclaimed the bug user.

"Shino! Are you OK?" asked Kiba.

"I think so...who would have thought that they would have a bug spray trap?" inquired the Abarume clan member.

"They must be prepared for everything..." noted Lucy.

At that very moment, a metallic hand appeared and tried to tear at the kunoichi's dress.

"No thanks." answered the kunoichi.

Oddly enough, she had not actually suffered any real clothing damage since she had gotten to the world of ninja. Did she transfer that to someone else? If so, she was starting to feel sorry for them.

"I sure hope that they're doing OK..." noted Lucy.

_Meanwhile..._

Lady Tsunade was standing inside the Hyuga clan household, where Hiashi Hyuga and his nephew were sitting. She was trying to explain to Hiashi Hyuga what had happened to his beloved daughter.

"What?! Are you saying she's stranded in some sort of alternate world?!" exclaimed Hiashi.

"I'm afraid so." nodded Tsunade.

"This is terrible..." answered the Hyuga clan leader.

"I sure hope that she comes back soon..." agreed Neji. He was personally hoping that Hinata's latest mission was going to be a success...which it technically was.

"The interdimensional portal may have saved her life, however...as you may be well-aware of, the two ANBU members that accompanied her were found dead, as well as the missing child." explained Tsunade.

"It did?" inquired Hiashi.

"Yes...I believe she used it a few moments before the ANBU members were attacked...she apparently wanted to look for Naruto." explained Tsunade.

"They were like brother and sister, weren't they?" asked the leader of the Hyuga clan.

"Also, due to the magic of the interdimensional portal...somebody who isn't part of your clan has inherited the Byakugan." continued the kunoichi.

"They have?" inquired Hiashi Hyuga.

"Yes...in Hinata's stead we have a young man by the name of Natsu Dragneel...we believe that he has inherited his Byakugan from her..." explained Tsunade.

"Has he now?" asked Neji curiously.

"Yes...as such, we sent him on a mission along with Hinata's teammates..." continued the Fifth Hokage.

"Did you?" asked the head of the Hyuga clan.

"Since he was new to being a ninja, we brought his friend from this mysterious world...a young lady by the name of Lucy Heartfilia...who oddly enough has several similarities to your daughter." explained Tsunade.

"Really?" asked Neji.

Tsunade immediately handed Neji a paper detailing Lucy Heartfilia's life story...which she had handed her a day earlier to tell her more about herself.

"I'm scared..." noted the Hyuga clan member.

"Let me see that, Neji." answered Hiashi.

Neji nodded as he handed his uncle the paper.

"Hmm...are you sure that she and my daughter weren't separated at birth?" inquired the head of the Hyuga clan curiously.

"Well, we don't know everything about the interdimensional portals yet. This is still rather new to us." noted Tsunade.

"I see..." nodded Hiashi.

"I just wanted to let you know this in case you ever decided to search for her..." explained the Fifth Hokage.

"I just hope that she returns soon..." answered the head of the Hyuga clan.

"If we can find out how to make an interdimensional portal...she probably will." nodded Tsunade.

"Good luck then." nodded Hiashi.

Immediately, the Fifth Hokage left the Hyuga household.

"How did it go?" asked Shizune.

"I don't think he will be declaring war on us to try to get her back...so I think it went well." answered Tsunade.

Shizune let out a sigh of relief.

"Say, what's Shikamaru doing?" inquired Tsunade's apprentice.

As it turns out, he was trying to create an interdimensional portal of his own. Unfortunately, it appeared that he couldn't create one big enough for Lucy and Natsu to fit through.

"Can I help you?" asked Tsunade.

"I'm trying to see if I can use my chakra to travel across dimensions..." answered Shikamaru.

"How is that going for you?" inquired the Fifth Hokage.

"I've only been able to create small ones unfortunately...so far I've only managed to send a few small objects across." explained the ninja.

_Meanwhile..._

"Ow!" exclaimed Makarov.

Something had hit him on the head...

"Where did that come from?" asked the guildmaster curiously.

For some strange reason, he kept finding litter in his office. Since when was his office so filthy?

He could have sworn that he had cleaned it up yesterday. Was someone breaking in and messing up the place?

"I might need to have a talk with my guild..." questioned Makarov.

_Back to the world of ninja..._

"Let us know if you make any progress." said Tsunade.

Shikamaru nodded.

"I sure hope that we can get Naruto and Hinata back..." spoke Shizune.

"So do I." nodded the Fifth Hokage.

"It feels like forever since we've seen the two of them..." noted Tsunade's apprentice.

"Yes...Sakura in particular is very upset about all this. She feels that this is somehow all her fault. She said that she punched him in the face a few days before he disappeared..." answered the Sannin.

"How would it be her fault?" inquired the apprentice.

Tsunade shrugged. It was rather surprising what people would blame on themselves.

"Why exactly did she punch Naruto, anyway?" asked Shizune.

"She caught him staring at a picture of a pretty girl in a bikini." explained Tsunade.

"Yikes..." murmured the kunoichi.

"Then again, I did break both of Jiraiya's legs for spying on me while I was in the shower." noted the Sannin.

"Sheesh...I don't want to make you angry." acknowledged Shizune.

"Believe me, you wouldn't like me when I was angry." nodded Tsunade.

"Er, do you want me to do you a favor? Just ask me and I'll do it!" exclaimed the apprentice.

"No thank you. I just want to get some sleep..." explained the Sannin.

"Right, of course! I'll prepare your bed for you!" exclaimed Shizune.

"Really, I'm fine." answered Tsunade.

"I'll...er, see you later!" bellowed the kunoichi.

Tsunade waved farewell to Shizune as she went to bed.

"I just hope that wherever Naruto and Hinata are...they're doing alright." noted the Sannin.

_Well, it looks like our heroes are still working on their missions...will they be able to succeed once again? Then again, they always seem to succeed in what they do...they're so good at being heroic._

_But what exactly is Chiyoye planning?_

_See you later!_


	11. Chapter 11: Pirate vs Ninja

Ninja Tail 11

_In this chapter, our heroes are going to enter Phanta Claws's factory so that they can stop Phanta from ruining Christmas...only to discover a rather shocking secret about him._

_Oh, and Lucy (as well as Team 8) are going to adventure into the cavern...but of course Captain Bloodbeard and his fearsome crew are going to be following them..._

**Chapter 11: Pirate vs. Ninja**

Erza, Gray, Hinata, and Naruto entered the factory...which as they discovered was full of scary-looking toys.

"What exactly has he been building in here?" questioned Gray.

"Well, Ebemener did warn us that he was building evil toys..." noted Hinata.

"He clearly isn't right in the head." acknowledged Erza.

"I don't know...I think that this teddy bear is kind of cute." spoke Naruto as he picked up a cute-looking teddy bear.

Suddenly, the teddy bear tried to bite him in the hand, causing him to scream.

"Aah!" exclaimed the genin.

Shortly afterwards, the evil toys began to come to life.

"We might want to run..." noted Gray.

Nodding, the foursome decided to head deeper into the factory so that they could find Phanta.

Instead, they found what appeared to be elves making evil toys.

"So...is this their assembly line?" inquired Naruto.

Oddly enough, the elves had gray skin like their master...and were wearing red instead of green.

"We might want to...avoid getting their attention." noted Hinata.

At that very moment, Gray sneezed...causing the elves to start paying attention to them.

"Curse my freaking allergies!" bellowed the ice mage.

The elves immediately began to arm themselves...with candy cane swords, explosive christmas ornaments, gingerbread cookie flamethrowers, and oddly enough, reindeer antlers.

And speaking of reindeer...there were more reindeer waiting to eat their flesh.

"What are we going to do?" inquired Naruto.

Getting a bit...desperate, Hinata used her Byakugan to look for a way out of their situation.

Sure enough, there was an exit nearby...but it lead directly to Phanta Claws, who was loading his sleigh.

"I'm afraid that we need to hurry..." explained the kunoichi.

"Is it Phanta?" inquired Gray.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Hinata.

"We'll hold them off! You two keep on going!" exclaimed Erza.

"Sounds like a plan." nodded Naruto.

Immediately Naruto and Hinata leapt away while the evil elves approached the two Fairy Tail mages.

"So...how long do you think we can hold them off?" asked Gray.

"I've been in battles just like this before...I think we'll be fine." answered Erza.

Suddenly, one of the elves tossed a Christmas ornament bomb at the duo.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the ice mage.

"Then again...they do have explosives." noted the knight.

As it turns out, Phanta Claws was getting ready to take off...taking a minute to view his naughty list.

Much to Hinata's surprise, everyone in Icevale appeared to be on that list...except for Ebemeaner Scourge himself.

"How very odd..." questioned the kunoichi.

At that very moment, Phanta began to take off on his sleigh, forcing Hinata and Naruto to jump inside to stop him.

"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!" bellowed the evil Santa.

Immediately, Naruto and Hinata braced themselves as the sleigh lifted off into the sky.

"Here's hoping that we don't fall to our deaths..." noted Hinata.

"Isn't the ground covered with snow?" inquired Naruto.

"It may not break our falls, Naruto...we might end up breaking our necks instead." explained the kunoichi.

"Oh, right..." nodded the genin.

At that very moment, Phanta Claws noticed them.

"What the-you two rascals get off my sleigh!" bellowed the evil Santa.

Immediately, Phanta began to try to push them off.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Oof!" bellowed Hinata as she was knocked to the ground.

"I'm going to give Icevale a very special Christmas this year...and you two aren't going to stop me!" bellowed the evil Santa.

_Meanwhile..._

Lucy suddenly noticed that there appeared a piano in the cavern, for some strange reason, and began to wonder what was going on.

"What is this old piano doing here?" inquired the kunoichi.

Curious, Lucy decided to look at the instructions to see what she needed to do.

"Play the music correctly or else you will die...well, good thing I happen to know how to play a piano..." noted the mage.

"I hope you're correct..." answered Natsu.

Curious, Lucy noticed that there was also a music sheet in front of the piano detailing which song to play...as well as an added note.

"Three guesses to which movie the author is referencing...er, I'm not sure what that means." noted the kunoichi.

Shrugging, Lucy began to play the piano...but unfortunately, she made a mistake.

At that very moment, a heavy sandbag nearly fell on Shino.

"Be careful." warned the bug user.

"Sorry, my finger slipped." answered Lucy.

Once again, the kunoichi continued to play the piano. Immediately, the door to the treasure room began to open.

However, at that very moment, Kiba began to smell something.

"You might want to hurry, Lucy. I sense that the pirates are on their way here..." explained the dog user.

Akamaru began to howl.

"What?!" exclaimed Natsu.

Immediately, the fire mage began to use his Byakugan to see if Kiba was correct. Sure enough, the pirates were making their way towards their location...and this time they were carrying guns.

"Finish the song! Or we're going to die!" bellowed the fire mage.

Unfortunately, Lucy made another mistake, causing a boxing glove to punch Kiba in the stomach.

"Ugh...my lunch..." murmured the dog user.

"How many booby traps are connected to this piano?" inquired Lucy curiously as she continued to play the instrument.

_Meanwhile..._

Hinata and Naruto continued trying to stop Phanta Claws...who unfortunately was having his reindeer do some rather impressive tricks with his sleigh to shake them off.

However, at that very moment, Hinata remembered something important.

"Oh, that's right...I have motion sickness now. I shouldn't be jumping into people's sleighs..." noted the kunoichi.

Feeling rather sick, Hinata eventually began to vomit.

"Ugh..." murmured the Hyuga clan member.

And as it turned out, she had vomited on Phanta Claws's face.

"Whoops?" inquired Hinata.

"Aargh! I can't see!" bellowed the evil version of Santa.

At that very moment, Phanta lost his grip on the reindeer's reins, and he began to fall off the sleigh.

"No no no!" bellowed the evil version of Santa as he fell.

Unfortunately, this left the sleigh completely out of control...and it began to fall.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Oh boy..." murmured Hinata.

Fortunately for Hinata, she landed on the snow sitting down.

"That was rather lucky..." noted the kunoichi.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he crashed into the ground head-first and was buried up to his waist.

"Where did everybody go?!" exclaimed the genin.

Thankfully, Hinata pulled Naruto out of the snow.

"Thank you..." answered the ninja.

"Well, do you think we stopped Phanta?" inquired Hinata.

"I think so...how is he going to deliver those evil toys without his sleigh?" asked Naruto.

"I suppose...but what if he survived the fall?" asked the kunoichi.

At that very moment, Phanta began to emerge from the snow. He seemed rather...angry.

Then again, considering his reindeer had run off and his sleigh had been wrecked, this wasn't much of a surprise.

"Somebody's been very naughty..." said the evil version of Santa as he pulled out a snowball launcher.

"I guess we're going to have to beat the Christmas cookies out of him..." noted Naruto.

Immediately, Hinata and Naruto got ready to rumble.

_Meanwhile..._

Using his cryokinetic abilities to make several ice weapons, Gray began to fight off the evil elves.

Likewise, Erza was using her sword to thin their herds as much as possible.

Unfortunately, they simply would not leave them alone. They kept on coming. In fact, more and more of their adversaries were beginning to reveal themselves.

They were a rather diverse bunch, to say the very least. Not only did the army include evil elves, it also included evil snowmen (much like the ones Frosty the Mankiller had sent earlier before Hinata found a way to purify him), more of the flesh-eating reindeer, as well as more of the evil toys.

The evil toys themselves included airplanes that dropped explosives on them, action figures that were armed with miniature firearms (including lasers of all things), vehicles that tried to run them over (many of which were being driven by said action figures, including Barbie of all toys), more of the evil teddy bears, a doll that tried to stab Gray in the face, and a jack-in-the-box that happened to be explosive.

"How many of you are there?" bellowed Gray.

"Enough for all the children in the world...or at least for Icevale." explained one of the elves.

"Well, that's not a good sign..." noted Erza. Icevale was rather large for a town in the middle of the tundra.

"How long do you think we'll be able to hold them off?" inquired the ice mage.

"Hopefully enough for Naruto and Phoenix to deal with their leader..." answered the knight in shining armor.

Shrugging, Gray decided that he should keep on fighting as long as he could...even if the odds were stacked against him and Erza.

However, at this point, they were already starting to lose ground. It was only a matter of time before Gray and Erza would end up reaching each other's backs.

At that very moment, an elf came by wielding a chainsaw...which had red and green stripes on it for some particular reason.

"Yeehaw!" bellowed the elf as he began to charge towards Erza.

Thankfully, the knight in shining armor was able to send him packing...but not before giving her a small cut on her cheek.

"Oh great...I'm starting to bleed." noted Erza.

"That's not a good sign, is it?" asked Gray.

"No, it is not." nodded the knight in shining armor.

Shortly afterwards, an elf threw some hail at Gray, who began to experience irony.

"Ow! Why can't I be immune to my own element like Natsu is?" inquired the ice mage.

"Didn't you train to become resistant to the cold?" asked Erza curiously.

"I didn't develop resistance to blunt objects..." answered Gray.

"I see..." nodded the knight in shining armor.

_Meanwhile..._

Fortunately for Lucy and Team 8, the former was successfully able to play the piano without anyone suffering too many injuries.

Oddly enough, Lucy noticed that the song in question was "Never Gonna Give You Up"...which she had the urge to sing to Shikamaru.

"I wonder why?" inquired the summoner mage.

Curious, she began to wonder what he was currently doing. Surely he was doing something active, right?

_Meanwhile..._

"Zzz..." murmured Shikamaru in his sleep. As it turned out, he was currently taking a nap.

Currently, he was dreaming about doing an S-Rank mission with his teammates.

"Yes...keep at it...you're doing well...I know that we can do this mission...everyone's counting on us." said the Nara clan member.

At this point, he was starting to drool.

"Yes! We did it! Our formation was perfect!" exclaimed Shikamaru.

_Back to us..._

Unfortunately for Team 8, the pirates were not too far from them. In fact, they were going to be upon them in a few minutes.

"We better hurry." noted Shino.

Immediately, the foursome headed towards the treasure room...which oddly enough only included one treasure chest.

"Strange...I was expecting more than this..." questioned Kiba.

"Arf!" nodded Akamaru.

"Well, admittedly this cavern wasn't very big." noted Lucy.

"We're not going to get cursed if we take gold out of this chest, are we? I don't want to end up as an undead!" exclaimed Natsu.

"I don't think we're going to get cursed, Natsu. We're not in the world of magic anymore...don't you remember?" inquired Lucy.

"Oh, right." answered the fire mage.

"Yarr!" exclaimed Captain Bloodbeard.

"Darn it! He's already here!" bellowed the summoner mage.

"Give me and me crew me treasure, or I'll make ye walk the plank on yer own ship!" exclaimed Captain Bloodbeard.

"Our frigate had a plank? I guess I didn't pay attention..." noted Shino.

"Yes, we did. I don't know why since we were never going to use it..." questioned Lucy.

"But we need that to pay for Tsunade's gambling debt..." answered Kiba.

"Too bad! Nobody cares about her!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard.

Kiba's face turned red.

"What did you say?!" exclaimed the dog user.

Akamaru began to growl at Captain Bloodbeard.

"I know I don't!" bellowed the captain.

Immediately, Kiba and Akamaru began to attack the pirate captain...Shino seemed angry at Bloodbeard as well, though admittedly his facial expression seemed the same as always.

"Why does he never show emotion? He reminds me of Erza..." thought Lucy.

As it turned out, Natsu was hiding behind the treasure chest.

"C'mon, Natsu! Fight like a man! I'm a woman and I'm fighting like one." answered the kunoichi as she began to create a few clones of herself.

Reluctantly, the fire mage stepped out from his hiding place.

"There! Was that so hard?" inquired Lucy.

"Yes, it was!" exclaimed Natsu.

Lucy began to sigh. At least the fire mage seemed to be showing some progress.

Nonetheless, it was going to be a while before he was back to his old self.

_Meanwhile..._

Phanta Claws immediately opened fire on Naruto and Hinata with his snowball launcher...which as they discovered was surprisingly deadly.

And to make matters worse, Phanta was using his Christmas magic to summon snowmen to help him attack the duo.

Deciding to deal with the snowmen while her best friend in the world continued fighting Phanta, she began to prepare some fireballs.

Immediately, Naruto summoned some shadow clones so that they could pelt Phanta with some snowballs of his own.

Unfortunately, this appeared to irritate him more than anything else.

"You're on the top of my naughty list!" bellowed Phanta.

"You sure you don't mean the bottom?" asked the genin.

"Whatever! I'm going to bury you alive in coal!" screamed the evil version of Santa.

Suddenly, an avalanche of coal began to move towards Naruto.

"Aah!" screamed the genin.

Fortunately for Naruto, he was able to leap away from the coal. Unfortunately for his clones, they were not as lucky, and they all disappeared into smoke.

Naruto kept on attacking Phanta...but due to the fact that he had very sharp claws, he realized that he couldn't get too close to him if he didn't want to get shredded.

Apparently, he was going to need to decide on a different course of action.

"I guess it's time for one of Lucy's summons..." noted Naruto.

Immediately, he reached into his bag to see if he could find anything that would be useful in defeating evil holiday icons.

"Let me see..." said the genin.

Curious, he noticed that one of the keys had a circle with two horns sprouting on other side. A head of a bull was carved into a base.

Shrugging, he decided to give this one a shot.

In this case, this particular key allowed him to summon a helpful minotaur by the name of Taurus...who didn't seem too happy to see him.

"Good moo-rning, Luc-wait a minute! You're not Lucy!" inquired the bull.

"Sorry...I'm afraid that she's elsewhere in the moment." explained Naruto.

"But she was so hot..." complained Taurus. It wasn't every day that he got summoned by an attractive female.

"I'm afraid your old mistress is going to have to wait...I'm your master for the time being." said the ninja.

Taurus let out a sigh.

"If you want, I could try transforming into a pretty girl for you...I've got just the jutsu for that." explained the ninja.

"What's a jutsu? And what do you need help with?" inquired the bull.

"Oh, I just need you to hit that fat guy over there as hard as you could...just don't hit my friend Hinata...she's on my side." explained Naruto.

"She's attractive..." noted Taurus.

Naruto sweatdropped. Was his summon going to try to flirt with Hinata? He wasn't sure how she was going to react to that.

Doing as his new master commanded, the minotaur immediately plowed into Phanta Claws's fat belly.

This worked surprisingly well. Phanta Claws immediately fell on the floor...which gave Hinata an opportunity to attack him.

As it turned out, she was still trying to melt the snowmen...so Naruto tried to get her attention.

"Hinata! Now's your chance to hit him with your Gentle Fist!" exclaimed the genin.

"Hmm? Alright then." nodded Hinata.

"I suggest you try hitting him in his big round belly...it seems as good of a target as any place else." noted Naruto.

"You're right...it is one enormous weak point, isn't it?" questioned the kunoichi.

"Yeah, pretty much." nodded the genin.

"I've got to go on a diet..." murmured Phanta.

Immediately, Hinata hit Phanta in the stomach with her Gentle Fist technique as hard as she could.

"Aargh!" exclaimed the fat magician.

Curious, Hinata noticed that for some strange reason...Phanta Claw's clothes had turned red.

"Huh? I could have sworn that he was wearing green earlier..." questioned the kunoichi.

Shrugging, she decided to hit Phanta Claws again...whose claws suddenly disappeared.

"Something's going on here..." thought Hinata.

She then hit Phanta again, causing his beard to turn white.

"Wait a minute...let's do this one more time." thought the kunoichi once again.

Hitting Phanta again one last time...she immediately noticed his skin was no longer gray...and his eyes were no longer red.

At this point, she began to realize who "Phanta Claws" really was.

"Santa? Is that you?" questioned Hinata curiously.

At that very moment, Naruto began to charge up a Rasengan.

"Um, Naruto...you should hold your fire. I think we've been hoodwinked." questioned Hinata.

"Huh?" inquired the genin curiously.

Curious, Naruto decided to throw his Rasengan off into the distance. Hopefully it wouldn't hit anyone.

"What happened? Where did the monster go? I could have sworn he was here a few minutes ago...did he flee for the hills?" inquired Naruto.

"I think Santa's been the victim of evil magic, Naruto." explained Hinata.

"Has he now?" asked the genin curiously.

_Meanwhile..._

Unfortunately for Gray and Erza, at this point they were surrounded. There were simply too many evil elves, evil reindeer, evil action figures, evil dolls...you get the idea.

"Is this going to be our last mission?" inquired Gray.

"This may very well be our last stand." nodded Erza.

However, at that very moment, something unexpected happened.

Suddenly, the evil elves, evil reindeer, the evil snowmen, and the evil toys...suddenly stopped looking so evil.

"Huh?" inquired Gray.

Shortly afterwards, the factory itself started to look less dreary. Gradually, it was becoming more and more colorful.

"What's going on?" inquired Erza.

Also, nothing was attacking them anymore. In fact, it appeared that the evil toys wanted to hug them...though admittedly one of the teddy bears wanted to hug Erza in the chest.

"Well, at least we're safe...that's for sure." noted Gray.

"I still have to wonder what exactly just happened...did an evil spell suddenly just wear off? It looks like it did." spoke Erza.

At that very moment, the elves began to continue making toys...which thankfully were no longer evil-looking and were not going to be used to wage war.

"Are we done?" asked the ice mage curiously.

"Something tells me that Naruto and Phoenix defeated the evil Santa...so yes." nodded Erza.

"I just can't help but shake the feeling that we're not finished here..." questioned Gray.

"Then again, maybe not." answered the knight in shining armor.

_A few minutes later..._

"What happened?" inquired Santa as he began rubbing his head.

"I think some sort of evil magician casted a spell on you to make you turn evil...and you ended up spreading it to everyone else that you knew personally." explained Hinata.

"I wonder who tried to ruin Christmas?" inquired Naruto.

As it turned out, Santa could not remember what had happened recently.

However, he did recall seeing a man wearing a top hat and a cane right before he started going insane.

"Wait a minute..." questioned Hinata.

"Is this someone we know?" inquired Naruto.

"Let's just say that we're going to need to pay Ebemener Scourge a visit." explained the kunoichi.

Sure enough, Erza and Gray arrived on the scene.

"Santa? Is that you? You still owe me that toy train since when I was five..." said Gray.

"Funny...I always thought that Santa only existed in fairy t-oh wait, that's right. I'm in a fairy tale world now..." noted Naruto.

"What exactly is going on?" inquired Erza.

"We need to talk to Ebemener Scourge...I think he's the one behind this. I suggest that you get ready to fight again." explained Hinata.

"Um, sure..." nodded the knight in shining armor.

Fortunately, the mayor's house wasn't too far from them.

Curious, they decided to look out the window to see if they could find anything.

As it turned out, Ebemener Scourge was checking Christmas off a checklist full of holidays.

"Well, I've officially ruined Christmas for everyone...that'll teach Santa not to give me clothes for Christmas...but what holiday do I go after next? Halloween always scared me as a child...but maybe I should go after Valentine's Day. My girlfriend dumped me on that particular holiday. Or maybe I should go after St. Patrick's Day...that holiday always made me drunk..." noted Ebemener Scourge.

"He's definitely behind everything." explained Hinata.

"Alright then..." nodded Erza.

Immediately, the S-Class Mage punched down the door to Ebemener Scourge's house, much to his surprise.

His head sweating, he began to greet them rather nervously.

"Um, h-hello there, Fairy Tail mages! What brings you here?! Did you s-slay Phanta Claws for me?!" exclaimed the evil mayor.

"You're in a lot of trouble." said Gray.

"What? How come? I assure that I never did anything wrong...except maybe embezzle from my citizens once or twice. It was only a dollar or two, I swear!" answered Ebemener.

"That doesn't explain how expensive his manor looks..." thought Hinata to herself.

"As bad as embezzling from your people is...that's not what we want to talk to you about." explained Erza.

"You tried to ruin Christmas!" bellowed Naruto.

"What are you talking ab-oh wait...you caught me plotting my next holiday attack, didn't you?" inquired the mayor.

"Yes, we did." nodded Gray.

"You're in a lot of trouble, Ebemener Scourge." answered Erza.

"Oh dear...it looks like I've been busted. Well then, I guess the only thing left now is to..."

Ebemener Scourge transformed his cane into a sword.

"...kill you all and mount your heads over my fireplace!" bellowed the mayor.

Naruto and Gray gasped in shock while Hinata grasped her neck. Erza simply frowned.

"Well, this cannot be good." noted Erza.

Immediately, Ebemener Scourge lunged towards the foursome with his sword, hoping to cut them to ribbons.

Thankfully, Erza intercepted the sword...and got into a swordfight with the corrupt mayor.

"It looks like we're in for a challenge..." noted Naruto.

"Don't worry, Naruto! There's four of us and only one of him! I'm sure that we're going to be fine!" exclaimed Gray.

At that very moment, Ebemener Scourge snapped his fingers, and Team Natsu began to hear loud footsteps outside.

"What was that?" inquired Hinata.

At that very moment, two enormous snow golems burst through the walls and began to roar at the foursome. By the looks of it, Ebemener Scourge had summoned them to grind them into paste.

"You were saying?" asked Naruto.

"I have a big mouth..." noted Gray.

_Meanwhile..._

Kenichi soared across the sky with his dragon, looking for more weak shinobi to eradicate from the world.

He had to admit, he always felt satisfied whenever he personally slew a ninja that was vastly inferior to himself, though personally he felt that he should pick up the pace, as he had felt that he had been rather inactive over the past few weeks.

Then again, he had not visited the Land Of Fire in quite some time, as he did not usually feel that it was thriving with the frail.

However, there did not appear to be any sign of any potential victims at the moment, as he had ventured into the wilderness miles away from Konoha.

Curious, Kenichi used his Rinnegan to look for signs of chakra, as he usually did whenever he wanted to search for more victims.

However, to his mild disappointment, he did not find any in his proximity. He was going to need to search elsewhere.

"Well, that's a bit of a shame...but at least I appear to be doing my job well. There's not a weak ninja in sight." noted the ninja.

Kaishi immediately roared in satisfaction. As it turned out, Kenichi had bended him to his will not too long ago using his dark chakra, so he shared much of the personality that his master did.

"Keep on searching...I'm sure that we'll find someone eventually. And when we do find someone...you'll know exactly what to do." said the darwinist ninja.

Kaishi nodded.

"Very good." answered Kenichi.

Immediately, the ninja and his dragon continued soaring through the skies.

_What's this! It turns out Ebemener Scourge was the real threat to Icevale this whole time...who would have thought that he was so petty? It looks like it's up to our heroes to try to stop him..._

_Oh, and Lucy and Team 8 will finally get the treasure they wanted...or at least Lady Tsunade did._


	12. Chapter 12: Christmas Mourning

Ninja Tail XII

_In this chapter...our heroes are going to complete their missions again! Hooray! But there's going to be more to this story than our heroes simply going on missions and helping people...things are going to get a bit more complicated soon._

_But for now, I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

**Chapter 12: Christmas Mourning**

As Erza continued her swordfight with Ebemener Scourge, Naruto, Hinata, and Gray prepared themselves to deal with the snow golems.

Fortunately for Hinata, thanks to her fire magic, she was having a field day. One could say that she was...on fire.

"Aargh!" screamed the snow golems. Apparently, attacking a fire user when you were made of snow wasn't such a good idea.

Unfortunately for Gray, due to him being an ice user, he wasn't having a field day.

"Darn it! Why aren't my ice weapons working?" inquired the ice mage.

As for Naruto, well, he wasn't doing as much damage to the snow golems as Hinata...but he was doing damage nonetheless. His Rasengan in particular was actually making them dizzy.

He was in fact considering using a summon that would help him defeat the snow golems...but he had already used two summons today, and he was starting to feel a bit sleepy.

"Huh...these snow golems actually aren't as tough as they look...I guess the bigger they are, the harder they fall. I might want to be careful though...wouldn't want to get too carried away now." thought the genin.

Realizing that he was getting nowhere using ice against the snow golems, Gray decided to give Erza a hand instead. Surely Ebemener would be a goner if they forced him to enter a two-against-one swordfight, right?

However, as it turned out, Ebenezer Scourge had prepared for that.

Using his free hand, he took off his hat...

...and revealed a pistol.

"He literally brought a gun to a swordfight." thought Gray.

"Well, it looks like it's time for me to pump you full of lead." noted Ebenezer Scourge.

"You have a gun underneath your hat?" asked Erza.

"As a matter of fact, yes I do! And did I mention that it's loaded?" inquired the mayor.

Immediately, Ebenezer began to shoot at Gray while he continued his swordfight with Erza.

Despite being occupied at the moment, he was still a rather accurate shot, and Gray had to rely on using an ice shield to defend himself.

Fortunately for Hinata, she managed to melt one of the snow golems using a rather large fireball.

"Well, that's one golem down...Naruto, are you doing OK over there? I know that can't simply use fire to melt the golems like I can...but..." inquired the kunoichi.

As it turned out, the remaining snow golem was slamming Naruto in the ground. Very hard. In fact, there appeared to be some cracks in the floor.

"Ow! Oof! Ouch! Eek! You are one tough golem!" screamed the genin.

The snow golem began to smile in satisfaction. It was only a matter of time now before his opponent was a dead man.

"I guess not..." noted Hinata.

Immediately, she tossed another fireball to force the snow golem to let Naruto go...which melted him in the process.

"Thanks...sheesh, look at the size of those puddles..." spoke Naruto.

"Yeah...here's hoping we don't slip over them." noted Hinata.

"Somebody's going to have to get a mop..." nodded the summoner genin.

Realizing that his snow golems had been defeated, Ebemener Scourge decided that it was time to summon some more.

However, these ones weren't made of snow.

Snapping his fingers, two coal golems began to descend from the chimney.

"First the snow golems, now this?" murmured Naruto.

"What do you think I was making Phanta Claws give children coal for? Granted...I could probably use these to power a train or something considering how expensive they are...but I think I'll make an exception today considering you want to bring me to justice..." asked Ebenezer Scourge.

"Oh, yeah...of course." nodded Hinata.

Unfortunately, it appeared that using fire magic wasn't going to do her any good this time, as the coal golems were fire-resistant. Hinata realized that she was going to have to get somebody else to fight the coal golems instead...

...which in this case was Gray.

Fortunately, Ebemener Scourge had run out of ammo for his pistol, so it looked like he could help her.

"Can you freeze the coal golems for me? My fire magic doesn't seem to be hurting them much...and I don't think I can just punch them out." asked Hinata.

"Sure." nodded Gray.

Immediately, Gray went to fight the coal golems while Hinata helped Erza fight Ebemener Scourge.

Unfortunately, as she discovered, he had a shotgun underneath his coat.

"How many weapons do you have?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Just three...though personally I wonder if I should get four..." questioned Ebemener Scourge.

Immediately, Ebemener used his shotgun to attack Hinata...miraculously, he managed to do it with one hand.

"Gosh..." thought Hinata.

Fortunately, the kunoichi was able to evade the shotgun blasts due to her Byakugan...though one of them grazed her shoulder.

Immediately, she began to rub it.

"You OK?" asked Erza.

"Yeah, I think so..." nodded Hinata.

Fortunately, Gray's ice magic was about as effective against the coal golems as Hinata had thought. Already, they were starting to fall apart.

Of course, Naruto had some first-degree burns on his face.

"These golems are strong..." thought Naruto.

Fortunately, using the power of his shadow clones, he successfully managed to defeat the coal golems along with Gray...

...at that very moment, Erza knocked Ebemener Scourge's sword out of his hand.

Ebemener began to sigh. Not only had he run out of magic to summon more golems with...but he wasn't able to swordfight Erza anymore. It looked like he had lost.

"Surrender, Ebemener!" bellowed the magic knight.

There was only one thing left to do. He was going to have to flee like a coward.

Using the last of his magic, he summoned a toboggan.

"So long, friends! I've decided I'll ruin Halloween next! I'll make it the most boring holiday there is!" exclaimed Ebemener Scourge as he entered the toboggan.

Immediately, he began to speed off into the night.

"Darn it! I won't be able to get any candy this year..." complained Naruto.

Immediately, Ebemener began to flee on his magical sled. It was surprisingly fast.

"Is there anything we can do to pursue him?" inquired Gray.

"I would...but I'd get motion sick." noted Hinata.

"I don't think we'll have to lay a finger. Look who's shown up!" exclaimed Erza, pointing in Ebemener's direction.

At that very moment, the evil magician crashed into Santa Claus's big round belly. He began to chuckle nervously.

"Um, hey there Santa...you don't mind that I tried to ruin your holiday, did you? And that I sent somebody to assassinate you so that my next mayor campaign was a success? I mean, I'm sure that you're forgiving! They say that you're so jolly and all..." asked Ebenezer Scourge nervously.

Santa Claus began to cast a spell.

"What! Don't touch me!" exclaimed Ebemener.

At that very moment, the evil mayor of Icevale began to freeze.

"Aargh! I...hate...Christmas!" bellowed the magician as he was frozen solid.

Santa Claus shook his head. Why did people always try to ruin his holiday? None of the other holiday mascots seemed to have this problem...so far, his holiday had been under attack by a man with green skin...mutant snowmen...a sack of bugs...a robot version of himself...the list went on.

_A few minutes later..._

Ebemener Scourge was being loaded into a police van so that he could be brought to justice. He had no less than a dozen life sentences, one for every day of Christmas.

"I would have gotten away with it too...if it weren't for you meddling-"

"I've already heard that line over a dozen times. Try coming up with something more original." answered Erza.

"Fairy Tail sucks! I hope your guild crumbles!" bellowed Ebemener.

"That's better." answered the knight in shining armor.

"You're a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce!" bellowed Naruto as he pointed at Ebemener.

"Say, where's Phoenix?" asked Gray curiously.

On cue, Hinata suddenly stepped out of the mayor's house.

"Hey Hinata...what were you doing in there?" asked Naruto.

"Well, since he obviously isn't going to be at his manor for a while...I decided to empty out his fridge." answered Hinata, rubbing her stomach.

"You did? How much did you eat?" inquired the genin.

"I ate all of it...even the spinach puffs." explained the fiery kunoichi.

"Noooooo!" bellowed Ebemener Scourge.

"Oh dear...he doesn't seem too happy that you ate his spinach." noted Naruto.

"Curse you!" exclaimed the mayor as the authorities took him away.

"I wonder...now that Ebemener is gone...who's going to lead Icevale?" inquired Gray.

"We've decided to make Icevale a democracy." explained an Icevale citizen.

"I see." nodded Erza. It seemed as good of a governing system as any.

"Well, I guess we can head back to Fairy Tail now to receive our reward..." noted Naruto.

"Sounds good...but I'm not using the cable car." explained Hinata.

"Right, of course..." nodded Gray.

_A few minutes later..._

"So, how was the mission?" asked Makarov as Naruto and Hinata entered his office.

As it turned out, Gray and Erza had gone to an ice cream parlor so that they could have milkshakes...and they weren't on a date.

"It went fine...we managed to purify Santa and defeat the evil mayor...who happened to be really corrupt...why do people keep going crazy with power these days? Can't they stay sane like my sensei Jiraiya? Then again, his obsession with pretty girls seems a bit...weird." explained Naruto.

"Yeah...I still wonder how I managed to purify Santa and Frosty though...I'm still a bit curious about that. Do I have some sort of purity spell that I'm not aware of?" questioned Hinata.

Curious, Makarov handed the kunoichi a scanner so that she could scan her magic...and her chakra.

As it turned out...Hinata could use her Gentle Fist to purify those that have been afflicted with dark magic...due to the profound lack of darkness in her body.

"Hmm?" inquired the kunoichi. She didn't have darkness inside her body? Personally she thought that everybody had some light or some darkness in their bodies somewhere.

Then again...now that she thought of it, when was the last time she ever did something wrong? The only time she remembered doing something wrong was when she took a cookie from her father's cookie jar without her permission back when she was five years old...and even then she apologized no less than a dozen times.

"Wow...I must be an angel or something." noted Hinata. At this rate she was going to develop angel wings and a halo.

Then again, her father happened to be human, so that probably wasn't going to happen...unless he happened to have been holding out on her.

"Maybe I should tell him that if I ever get back home...then again, I will have a lot of things to tell him." noted Hinata.

Curious, Naruto decided to use the scanner on himself to see how much darkness was in his body. Was he pure too?

As it turned out, he had very little, though he wasn't empty like Hinata was.

"Meh, I can't say I'm pure considering I invented the sexy jutsu..." noted Naruto.

"This lack of darkness inside my body is starting to scare me..." thought Hinata.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it eventually..." answered the guildmaster.

"I hope so..." answered Hinata.

"Well, I'm going to bed...see you later, Hinata." said Naruto as he went to Lucy's apartment.

At that very moment, a certain kunoichi remembered something rather important.

"Um...I think I'm going to need a place to stay too." noted Hinata.

"I suppose you could live at Natsu's house...so long as you have Happy's permission." explained Makarov.

At that very moment, Happy came in.

"She's going to be my housemate?" inquired Happy.

"I need a place to stay..." noted the kunoichi.

"Well, since you're a pretty girl...I say yes!" exclaimed the Exceed.

Hinata's cheeks turned red.

"There! Now you have a place to stay...I just hope that you like Exceeds." explained Makarov.

"Well, one of my partners back at my world happens to be a dog person...but I think I'll be fine." nodded Hinata.

"Very good! I'll see you tomorrow." said the elderly man.

Immediately, Hinata left along with Happy so that she could get some rest.

As she did so, Makarov's expression suddenly turned into a frown.

"No less than a dozen of our new recruits have disappeared now...where have they gone off too?" inquired the old mage.

At this rate, nobody else was going to want to join Fairy Tail...and his guild would be stonewalled.

"Something isn't right about this..." noted Makarov.

_Meanwhile..._

Kiba and Shino battled the pirates using their individual jutsus respectively, while Lucy began to summon some more animals.

Once again, Captain Bloodbeard found himself being bitten in the leg. He sure hoped that Akamaru did not have rabies.

Then again, considering that Akamaru was eagerly listening to his trainer's commands and was not foaming in mouth, he probably wasn't.

"That'll teach you to insult our mistress!" bellowed Kiba.

"Arf!" nodded Akamaru.

Once again, Captain Bloodbeard summoned his parrot Patchy.

"Let's give him an eyepatch of his own, shall we, Patchy?" inquired the pirate.

Immediately, Patchy began to peck at Kiba's face.

"Not again!" bellowed Kiba.

"What should I summon this time?" inquired the kunoichi.

Shrugging, she decided to summon a monkey.

Immediately, the monkey began to attack the pirates.

"Well, so far so good." spoke Lucy.

Unfortunately, some of the pirates decided to aim their guns at the summoner ninja.

"Uh-oh..." thought the mage.

Immediately, she began to hide behind the treasure chest for cover. Thankfully, it was a fairly large chest.

Once again, Natsu was cowering in a corner.

"Um, Natsu...I think I need your help again." answered Lucy.

"But they've got guns!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"Would you rather they shoot me in the face?" asked the summoner mage.

Natsu immediately tossed a fireball at the gun-wielding pirates to scare them away.

"Thank you." answered Lucy.

"You're welcome..." nodded Natsu nervously.

"I wonder how he's going to keep saving my life with his ego damaged like this..." thought the kunoichi.

Then again, she had become stronger due to the magic of the interdimensional portal...so maybe she wouldn't always need Natsu to give her a hand.

Curious, Lucy began to charge up another Rasengan.

However, she quickly noticed how small it was...and wondered if she could make it bigger than that.

Immediately, she tried to expand the Rasengan...

...and made it about the size of her head.

"Not bad!" exclaimed Lucy.

Testing out her new Rasengan, she immediately tossed it at the pirates...which knocked them down like bowling pins.

"Aargh!" exclaimed the pirates.

Oddly enough, the Rasengan then began to bounce, and it hit Captain Bloodbeard in the face.

"Yargh!" bellowed the pirate captain.

"I might have made the Rasengan extra bouncy..." noted Lucy.

Thankfully, it did not hit any of her friends...nonetheless, she began to wonder if she should try using her chakra to take control over it as it bounced.

Also, she noticed that the Rasengan gradually became smaller as it bounced, until it eventually disappeared.

"Interesting..." noted Lucy.

Shino's insects were doing well against the pirates...who at this point had several bones broken.

However, one of the pirates had a trick up his sleeve.

Immediately, he sprayed insect repellent on Shino.

"Agh!" bellowed the ninja.

Some of his insects immediately began to leave his body, which of course somewhat weakened him.

"Being weak against pesticides really isn't doing me any favors..." noted the bug user. Apparently, the pirates weren't as dumb as they looked.

Immediately, Shino began to back away from the pirate exterminator...only to nearly get slashed by another pirate for his trouble.

"Um, Kiba...I could use a little help here...those pirates want to make sushi out of me..." said Shino.

Fortunately for Kiba, he had managed to hit Patchy on the head and he had knocked him out cold, much to Captain Bloodbeard's sorrow.

"Huh? Alright then! We'll give you a hand...and a paw!" exclaimed Kiba.

Immediately, Kiba and Akamaru combined to form a two-headed wolf, causing Captain Bloodbeard to scream like a little girl.

"Why did he just scream like a little girl?" inquired Lucy.

"That's how I've been screaming lately..." answered Natsu.

"OK..." answered the kunoichi. Had Natsu really lost that much of his masculinity? She was starting to wonder if she could even call him a man.

Then again, he did appear to be slowly regaining his confidence as Shino and Kiba had said...though at the very moment he was still rather girly.

Immediately, the two-headed wolf began to attack the pirates attacking Shino, thus saving his skin...and what was living underneath his skin.

"Thank you." said Shino.

Kiba and Akamaru then knocked Captain Bloodbeard out cold with a swipe to the face.

Realizing that their leader had been defeated, the pirates began to surrender.

"We surrender! Don't hurt us!" bellowed one of the pirates.

"Hmm..." thought Lucy.

_A few hours later..._

"Thank you for being so helpful towards paying off my gambling debt. Not only did you give me the treasure, you also brought me some slaves to help me!" exclaimed Tsunade.

As it turned out, Lucy and Team 8 had made the pirates work off their debt to society...by making them pay off Tsunade's debt.

"Yarr! I can't believe me crew and I have become slaves! We should be the ones enslaving the landlubbers, not the other way around!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard.

"Is this some sort of karma? I believe we took some prisoners last week..." questioned the pirate.

"Get back to work!" demanded Tsunade.

Immediately, the pirates continued working in the mines a short distance from Tsunade's office.

"So...is there any missions you would like us to complete?" asked Lucy.

"Not at the moment. You can go try to relax." answered the Fifth Hokage.

"Alright then!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Can one of the pirates look after my dog? I'm going to be away for a while..." spoke Kiba.

"Yes, they can." nodded Tsunade.

"Thanks!" exclaimed the dog user.

"I guess I'll go head back to my clan...they've got another insect that they want to show me..." said Shino.

Immediately, Shino went back to his house.

"I don't have a place to stay..." complained Natsu.

"Is there anywhere you know that happens to be fireproof?" inquired Lucy.

"There's a house over there...though admittedly it hasn't been used for ages." explained Tsunade.

"Is someone planning to sell it?" asked the genin.

"They gave me the deed to the house, actually...said that they felt like giving me a gift." said Tsunade.

Immediately, the Sannin gave Natsu the deed to the house.

"Thanks..." answered the fire mage.

"Have fun living in your fireproof home." said Lucy.

"I will." nodded Natsu.

Immediately, he went to live in his new house...which thankfully did not collapse on top of him.

"Good to see that it's still in good condition despite not being used for a while..." noted Lucy.

"I have a decent construction crew." answered Tsunade.

"That's nice." nodded the kunoichi.

Shrugging, Lucy decided maybe it was time for her to head home as well. It had been a rather long mission...especially for Natsu since he got seasick easily.

On the way there, she happened to see Shikamaru, who appeared to be working on something.

"Hey there, Shikamaru! What are you doing?" inquired Lucy.

"I'm trying to make an interdimensional portal so that you can get home..." explained Shikamaru.

"Really? That's awfully nice of you!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Yes...I haven't been able to make one that's very big though...it appears that making an interdimensional portal takes time." answered the shadow ninja.

"Yes, it does...maybe you should get some of your friends to help you?" asked Lucy.

"Huh? You're right! Why didn't I think of that? I should probably get Ino and Choji to help me...they say that our clans can do anything when they work together..." explained Shikamaru.

"Like make an interdimensional portal?" inquired the mage.

"Yes! Of course!" nodded the shadow ninja.

"Right...well, good luck helping me get back home!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Have fun! I'm going to talk to Ino and Choji...right after I take a nap." said Shikamaru.

Immediately, he decided to take a snooze right there on the spot.

"Ah, Lucy...there you are...would you mind doing me a favor? I could use your assistance...hmm? You want to play Shogi? Alright then..." murmured the shadow ninja.

Lucy began to giggle. As it turned out, Shikamaru was dreaming about her.

Then again, they had been talking only a few minutes ago, so it wasn't much of a surprise.

"Have fun in Dreamland." spoke the kunoichi as she went to Naruto's apartment.

Immediately, she went to bed, happy to how the mission had gone.

Suddenly, somebody knocked on the door.

"Hmm?" inquired Lucy.

Curious, it was none other than the mailman, who wanted to deliver her a package.

"Hmm? What's this?" asked the kunoichi.

As it turned out, it was none other than a ninja headband.

Lucy smiled. Apparently, she was now officially recognized as a ninja.

Apparently, it had been delivered by none other than Tsunade. There was a letter attached to it as well.

"Dear Lucy Heartfilia...due to your work for the good of Konoha...we have decided to give you a ninja headband of your very own...you may keep it even if you wish to return to your old guild and retire from being a Konoha ninja." said the letter.

"How sweet..." thought Lucy.

Curious, the summoner mage put it on and looked at herself in the mirror.

"It looks surprisingly good on me..." noted the ninja.

Also, Tsunade had given her an outfit so that she could dress like a ninja.

Putting the ninja outfit on, she once again looked into a mirror.

"Again, I look good." thought the summoner mage.

Immediately, she went to bed so that she could get ready for her next mission.

Shortly afterwards, she began to dream about heading back home.

"Finally...now I can see my friends again...then again, I did make friends back on the other side...I hope I can get to see them again too..." noted Lucy.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, this is Natsu's house?" inquired Hinata.

"Yes, it is! It's mine too!" exclaimed Happy.

"It's nice that he gave you a place to stay." noted the kunoichi.

"He sure did! We're the best friends in the history of ever!" bellowed the Exceed.

"You sure are easily excited..." spoke Hinata.

"That's why they call me Happy!" answered Happy.

"Er, why is there a tree growing through the wall?" inquired the kunoichi.

"A tree? I never noticed it!" exclaimed the magical cat.

"But it's huge..." answered Hinata.

"Ignorance is bliss!" bellowed Happy.

"OK..." answered the kunoichi.

Unfortunately, the house was rather messy, to say the very least. Hinata began to wonder why Natsu would want to live in a place like this.

Shrugging, she decided to look for the bedroom.

As she discovered, Natsu slept on a hammock.

"Well, this is going to take some time getting used to..." noted Hinata.

Shrugging, she decided to try something new for a change.

"Well, at least this hammock is rather comfortable..." spoke the kunoichi.

As it turned out, Happy slept in a cat basket not far from where the hammock was.

Sure enough, he was sleeping...and was dreaming about fish.

Shrugging, Hinata decided to see if Natsu had any pajamas that she could wear when she went to bed.

Of course, considering that Natsu was male, she probably was looking in the wrong place.

But eventually, she did manage to find something that she wanted to wear...a pair of pink pajamas with an Exceed's face on them.

"This pink pajamas sound nice...though I wonder why Natsu would want to wear those...I don't think pink is really his color..." noted Hinata.

Shrugging, she went to the closet and put on the pajamas.

"Off to bed I go..." said Hinata.

As she did so, she noticed that Natsu had a picture of himself along with Happy on his drawer. Apparently, Happy wasn't kidding when he said that they were best friends.

Of course, Hinata couldn't help but stare at Natsu's muscular body.

"I sure hope that I can meet him one day..." thought the kunoichi.

Immediately, she decided it was time to go to bed.

"Zzz..." murmured Hinata in her sleep.

_Meanwhile..._

After she realized that she was going to get caught if she tried adventuring into the classified book section of the Fairy Tail spellbook library, Chiyoye decided that she was going to have to be a bit...creative.

Immediately, she began to forge a mission request on the mission hall. It was going to be the biggest mission Fairy Tail was going to have in years...if the mission actually existed.

Careful so that it didn't stand out among any of the other mission requests (other than how big it was), Chiyoye carefully attached the request to the mission board using a nail and a hammer.

"There...now I can create a distraction so that I can find what I'm looking for..." said the new recruit for Fairy Tail.

As she did so, she began to chuckle to herself.

"Soon I shall be able to be able to find that spellbook I've always wanted...and then I'll be all set..." she thought.

She had to admit, she was a bit surprised how many books the Magic Council had entrusted Fairy Tail with...apparently, they felt that they all deserved to have them in their spellbook library.

Then again, she hadn't been particularly interested in joining a small guild. The more powerful the guild was, the better, she had thought.

Of course, there was the possibility that somebody might find out what she was planning to do even when the entire guild was occupied with her fake request...which as it turned out was going to take them far away from the guild base.

"No matter...if somebody catches me sneaking into the forbidden section of the library...I can just make them disappear...just like I did with those fresh Fairy Tail recruits...heh heh heh." she thought.

_Uh-oh! It looks like Chiyoye is responsible for the missing mages...but what exactly did she do to them? And just what is that mission request?_

_You'll get to find out in the next chapter...mind you, it's going to be a rather scary one...then again, it is almost Halloween...so maybe you should be expecting that._


	13. Chapter 13: Chiyoye's Dark Secret

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, we're going to find out what's befallen the missing Fairy Tail members...mind you, it's not going to be pretty...you might not want to read this in the dark._

_Also, Lucy's going to go on a mission with Natsu and Shikamaru...but they're going to have to call it off...why you ask? Because of a certain ninja._

**Chapter 13: Chiyoye's Dark Secret**

Hinata found herself being woken up rather abruptly. As it turned out, it was none other than Happy.

"What? Happy, why are you waking me up?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Did you hear the latest?" asked the Exceed.

"Hmm? What is it?" asked Hinata curiously.

"We just received our biggest request in the history of ever!" bellowed Happy.

"What? We did?" inquired the kunoichi curiously.

"Yes! Everyone in the guild is going to be participating in this mission!" exclaimed Natsu's best friend.

"I have to admit...it feels rather weird having a talking cat as a pet..." noted Hinata.

"Don't you want to go to the guild to check it out?" inquired Happy.

"Sure...just let me get dressed." answered the Hyuga clan member.

Happy nodded, and Hinata changed back into her black shirt and shorts.

_A few minutes later.._

Hinata entered the guild hall, curious to what was going on.

Sure enough, Naruto and the rest of the guild were waiting for her.

"Hey there, Hinata! I can't believe we just got a request like this...then again, I haven't been here for that long..." noted Naruto.

"What is the request?" asked Hinata curiously.

"We need to slay a dragon!" exclaimed the genin.

"A dragon?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Not just any dragon! It's one of the most powerful dragons there is!" bellowed Naruto.

"Gosh." thought Hinata.

Sure enough, every member of the guild seemed to be present. Gray was eating an ice cream cone, Erza was sharpening her swords, Cana was drinking alcohol, Makarov was checking to see if everyone was there, Elfman was flexing his muscles, Mirajane was looking at herself in a mirror, Levy was reading a book, Droy was eating some chicken wings, Jet was running on a treadmill, and Happy was jumping out and down.

After a quick role call, Makarov explained the situation to his guildmates.

"Greetings, my friends. As you may be aware of, this is our biggest request yet. It has been ages since we have been called upon to slay a dragon...let alone a dragon of this caliber. As such, we are all going to go on this mission together, including myself." said the leader of Fairy Tail.

"We are?" asked Gray.

"Yes. In order to stop the dragon, we are going to need to work together as a team...Team Shadow Gear, this should be second nature to you. As for everyone else, you should try to settle your differences." explained Makarov.

Everyone in the guild nodded.

"Very good. We shall be leaving shortly." said the guildmaster.

Hinata raised her hand.

"Yes? Can I help you?" asked Makarov.

"Don't we need somebody to look after the guild while we're gone?" inquired the kunoichi.

Makarov looked rather surprised.

"Hmm? Oh yes! Now I remember! We do need somebody to look after the guild while we're away...any volunteers?" inquired the guildmaster.

Curious, the guildmates began to think of a potential candidate. They all wanted to go on the mission...but Hinata was right. They didn't want to leave their guild base unattended.

Eventually, somebody raised his hand.

It was none other than Naruto.

"Hmm? You want to look after the base, Naruto?" asked Makarov.

"If nobody else wants to, I'll do it." nodded the genin.

"Alright then! It's settled! Make sure that our guild base is in good shape when we return." said the guildmaster.

"Sir, yes, sir!" exclaimed Naruto.

Immediately, the rest of Fairy Tail left the guild while Naruto stayed behind.

"Well, I hope that they do well on their mission." spoke the ninja.

He had to admit, it was rather quiet with them gone. He was hoping that they would be back soon...especially Erza and Hinata.

"Then again, according to the mission request, the dragon was rather far away..." noted Naruto.

Suddenly, he began to hear noises coming from the library.

"Hmm?" asked the genin curiously.

Immediately, he went to the library to investigate...and discovered Chiyoye entering the classified section of the library.

"What the-" said Naruto. Did Chiyoye stay behind as well? He didn't see her at the guild hall along with the rest of the guild.

Curious, he realized what she was doing, and realized that she was breaking one of the guild rules.

What exactly was she breaking the rules for? Surely she wouldn't do so just for a thrill...then again, maybe not.

More curious than before, Naruto began to wonder if Chiyoye had already stolen spellbooks from the classified section of the library, and decided to search her guild room to see if he could find anything suspicious.

Oddly enough, Chiyoye's room in question wasn't far from the library.

At first glance, her room did not stand out from anyone else in the guild. It simply had several magical items inside, such as wands, orbs, crystal balls, and the like.

It also contained two bookcases, but they did not have the Fairy Tail stamp on them, so apparently they weren't stolen.

For a moment, Naruto decided that there was nothing out of the ordinary and Chiyoye was simply deciding to be mischevious, only for him to suddenly notice that there was something off about one of the bookcases.

As it turned out, one of the books had been taken out from the bookcase and had been left on a table.

"I guess I'll put that book back in if she's not reading it, I guess." spoke Naruto.

The genin immediately put the book inside the bookcase...and noticed that it moved out of the way, much to his surprise.

However, it did not lead to a secret passageway. Instead, it simply lead to a chest filled with more books.

"Well, nothing incriminating about that." noted Naruto.

Curious, the genin once again decided that he did not have evidence against Chiyoye. Shrugging, he decided to simply examine the books, which were innocent in themselves.

"I didn't know that she had a chest to store more books in...but I guess she just wanted some extra ones..." noted Naruto.

However, as he continued pulling out books to examine them, he suddenly noticed something suspicious.

"Hmm? What is this button doing here?" thought Naruto curiously.

Shrugging, he decided to press the button...

...and suddenly a secret passageway appeared.

"What's this?" asked the genin curiously.

Curious, Naruto decided to enter the secret passageway.

Immediately, he noticed that it wasn't well-lit, and began to feel rather nervous.

Nonetheless, he decided to enter anyway.

As it turned out, the secret passageway in question led below Chiyoye's room and below the Fairy Tail guild base.

However, the secret passageway still wasn't too suspicious in itself. By the looks of it, Chiyoye was simply into things that were scary. The passageway led to a room with pumpkins, plastic skeletons, a white sheet made to resemble a ghost, and other Halloween decorations.

In other words, there still wasn't anything incriminating against the sorceress that he could use as evidence.

Curious, Naruto noticed that there was a candle that he could use to light up the room.

"Well, I was rather scared for a second, but maybe I was wrong about Chiyoye." thought the genin.

Still, he was going to have to report her for breaking into the classified section of the Fairy Tail library. She simply wasn't allowed in there.

However, Naruto decided to investigate a bit further for a while, and noticed that there was a switch beneath the ghost sheet.

Flipping the switch, a werewolf and a vampire statue appeared.

"Interesting..." thought Naruto.

For a moment once again, the genin thought simply to leave Chiyoye be...only to notice that the statues were facing apart.

"Shouldn't they be making eye contact?" asked Naruto curiously.

Shrugging, Naruto decided to turn the statues around, as he did not feel Chiyoye would mind too much.

However, as it turned out...this led to another secret passageway.

This secret passageway was even darker than the first, as it turned out. Naruto was glad that there was a candle that he could use in order to see things.

However, this was where he was starting to get disturbed. Inside this room were two bookcases much like the ones he had encountered earlier.

However, these books weren't innocent like the ones he had found upstairs. These were dedicated to dark magic.

"Something tells me that Makarov isn't going to like this..." thought the genin.

At that very moment, Naruto decided that maybe it would be best if he went to look for Makarov (though admittedly this would be leaving the guild base attended) and tell him of the situation, but his curiousity lingered on. Was there another secret passageway?

Curious, Naruto noticed that once again there was something off about the bookcases...though in this case the books were all on the bookcase together.

In this case, one of the bookcases seemed to be out of position. Whereas one of the bookcases was close to the center, the other was all the way to the right.

Shrugging, Naruto decided to move the right bookcase closer.

Immediately, a metallic door suddenly appeared. Apparently it had been hidden by a cloaking spell.

"Hmm?" inquired the genin.

As it turned out, the door in question was locked.

"Well, I guess I did all I could do." noted Naruto.

Shrugging, he decided to call it quits and head back above, trying to make it look like he was never there.

He then decided to lie down on Chiyoye's bed for a few moments. He needed time to consider everything that he had learned.

Clearly, she was some sort of dark mage. Naruto began to wonder if she had joined a dark guild before she had entered Fairy Tail. It was a logical guess.

Naruto then prepared to get out of Chiyoye's bed, when suddenly he felt something strange.

Curious, the genin discovered that there was a skeleton key inside her pillow.

"This might be the key to that room I saw earlier..." noted Naruto.

Retracing his steps, the genin headed back to where he was. He immediately used the key to unlock the door, and discovered that it led to another passageway.

This particular passageway was pitch-black. All of a sudden, Naruto began to feel nervous.

The more he explored Chiyoye's room, the more nervous he became. Something was clearly very wrong here.

At this point, he was tempted to flee Fairy Tail and never come back...but he realized that in order to find why Chiyoye had joined the guild, he was going to have to press on.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto decided to head into the passage.

Fortunately, there was a light switch that Naruto could use to light up the passageway.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Naruto pressed the switch...

...and immediately gasped in horror.

Inside the room were no less than a dozen skeletons lying on twelve different operating tables...and unlike the plastic skeleton he had found in Chiyoye's room earlier, these were clearly authentic.

"What-what's going on?!" exclaimed Naruto.

Reluctantly, the genin decided that he needed to take a closer look. How exactly did Chiyoye murder these people? And just who were they?

Naruto immediately examined one of the skeletons...and gasped in shock. On its palm was none other than the Fairy Tail guild mark.

It was obvious that these were all the missing recruits.

Curious, Naruto recalled his sensei Jiraiya telling him about his former friend Orochimaru, who had abducted Konoha villagers so that he could experiment on them.

Was this what was happening now? Did Chiyoye really abduct these recruits for science?

Taking another look, the genin noticed that there was what appeared to be an operating table nearby, complete with straps for the arms and legs. Clearly she wanted another victim.

At this point, Naruto realized what he was going to have to do. He was going to have to tell Makarov immediately.

However, as soon as he tried to leave, he felt something grab his arm.

Curious, Naruto decided to look behind him, and screamed in horror.

It was none other than the skeleton that he had searched earlier that had grabbed him.

Looking around, Naruto discovered that the rest of the skeletons were rising from their tables as well. Once again, he began to scream.

The skeletons proceeded to seize the genin, and took him towards the operating table at the end of the room. They proceeded to strap him down so that he couldn't get away.

"Let me go!" screamed Naruto.

"Well well well. It looks like somebody's been poking their nose where they don't belong. Oh well. This makes things so much easier for me."

The genin gasped in shock. It was Chiyoye's voice.

Immediately, the skeletons moved out of the way so that she could approach Naruto.

"You? You're behind the disappearances?! What did you do to them?!" screamed the genin.

"As a matter of fact, I am. As for what I did to them...well, it was simple. I drained them out of their magic...then their life." explained Chiyoye.

"You drained the life out of them?!" exclaimed Naruto.

"As a matter of fact, I did. I stripped them right to the bone, as you can see before me." continued the dark mage.

Naruto immediately felt sick.

Suddenly, he noticed that Chiyoye was holding onto a book. It was labelled "Book Of The Dark Arts".

"What is that book?" asked the genin curiously.

"Oh this? Why, it's the same exact book I've been looking for since I came here...it has all the dark spells that I've ever wanted to use in my entire life..." explained Chiyoye.

Naruto began to feel rather nervous.

"I was actually about to take my leave...when my skeletons alerted me that you had broken into my room...but it's all the more convenient for me that way. To be honest, as much as I enjoyed draining the magic from those fresh recruits, I must have a taste of that chakra you and your fellow ninja have been using..." said the dark mage.

All of a sudden, Naruto realized why Chiyoye wanted to enter his world, and his eyes widened.

"Right then...this is going to be quick...but it's certainly not going to be painless, I can tell you that." explained the dark mage.

Chiyoye pressed her hands on Naruto's chest.

Immediately, the genin began to scream in pain.

The dark mage began to laugh as he began to close his eyes.

"Am I going to die?" thought the genin. Already he was starting to have flashbacks.

However, at that very moment, he suddenly heard Chiyoye scream, and wondered what was going on.

Naruto opened his eyes, and discovered that someone had stabbed the necromanceress in the stomach. She was currently clutching it in pain, and it appeared that she was bleeding.

As he discovered, it was none other than his friend Erza.

"Erza? Is that you?" inquired the genin.

"Yes, it is...what's exactly happening here, Naruto?" inquired Erza.

"It's Chiyoye! She's behind everything! Can you untie me?" asked Naruto curiously.

Immediately, Erza helped Naruto free himself from the operating table.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Chiyoye's stab wound had not killed her.

"Attack!" exclaimed the necromanceress.

Immediately, the skeletons began to surround the duo.

Fortunately for Erza and Naruto, they were able to attack the skeletons effective by working together.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the skeletons weren't going to be destroyed easily. Cutting them apart did little to impede them, and their limbs continued to attack even when separated from their bodies.

Deciding to try a different tactic, Erza decided to try smashing the skeletons instead.

This worked surprisingly well, and they were reduced to dust.

"Well, so much for the skeletons..." thought the magic knight.

However, at that very moment, Chiyoye managed to sneak up on Erza.

"Don't let her touch you!" screamed Naruto.

"Huh?" asked Erza.

At that very moment, Chiyoye grabbed onto Erza's leg, causing her to scream in pain. Thankfully, she was able to force the necromanceress to let go before she could hurt her too much.

However, this was still enough to completely heal her injuries, much to Erza's surprise.

"What did she-" asked Erza.

"She's a life-drainer, Erza! If she manages to get a good enough grip on you, you're dead!" warned Naruto.

"That's terrible..." answered the magic knight, realizing what had happened to the missing recruits.

Immediately, Naruto and Erza got ready to fight Chiyoye.

However, much to her surprise, she didn't seem interested in fighting them.

"Oh dear...it looks I'm outmatched. Well, at least I managed to get a taste of your chakra before I went." noted Chiyoye.

"Well, I'll be seeing you again...once I've gotten stronger."

Suddenly, Chiyoye disappeared into a burst of purple smoke.

"Where did she go?" inquired Naruto.

"I think she teleported away, Naruto." answered Erza.

"Thanks for saving me, Erza...if it weren't for you, I would have died a horrible death..." exclaimed Naruto.

"You're welcome, Naruto...I can't believe Chiyoye would sink this low..." answered Erza.

"Wait...didn't you go on that mission to slay that dragon? Now that I think of it...it was likely a fake." explained Naruto.

"I kept hearing a voice in my head that was telling me to turn back...and that you were in danger." answered Erza.

"I'm glad you trusted your instinct, Erza...otherwise I would have been dead." nodded Naruto.

"We have to tell Makarov immediately." answered Erza.

Naruto nodded. However, as they left Chiyoye's room, he began to wonder...

...what exactly did Chiyoye mean about becoming stronger?

_Meanwhile..._

Lucy woke up from bed, eager to help Konoha with their missions once again. Ever since she had acquired a ninja headband along with a ninja uniform, she had been feeling a lot more confident about being a ninja.

On the way there, she stopped to get some ramen. She simply could not stop eating it, even if she had eaten no less than a dozen bowls over the last week.

She had to admit, she had inherited many things from Naruto...but since she was in many ways still her own person she decided not to complain too much.

After all, he did give her some new abilities...though admittedly he had also taken her summoner keys from her.

"I hope they're doing OK..." thought Lucy Heartfilia. Unlike other summoner mages, she always thought that her summons were friends...and wondered if they were missing her in return.

At least they had managed to make a new friend...right?

On the plus side, she had been reunited with her buddy Natsu...who despite popular belief was not her boyfriend.

If anybody was her boyfriend, it was Shikamaru, the hottest ninja in the world.

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Lucy.

Just kidding.

"I must admit, he is rather handsome...but we're not there yet! Why are you implying such things?!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

My apologies.

"OK...it's time for me to stop breaking the fourth wall...enough crazy things are happening in this fanfic as it is...darn it! I just did it again!" answered Lucy.

Speaking of her friend Natsu, she had decided that she wanted to go on a mission with him like she had done before. Incidentally, he was reluctantly accepting one for himself. It was merely a C-Rank Mission.

Personally, Lucy thought Natsu could go on a mission that was much higher-ranked than that. Surely he could go on at least a B-Rank mission, right? They didn't call him Salamander for nothing.

"Well, at least he's actually accepting a mission for himself rather than helping another person do theirs...that's an improvement, at least." noted Lucy.

Curious, she noticed that Shikamaru wanted to go on that mission as well. Apparently he had noticed Natsu was feeling rather unconfident and had decided to aid him.

"Hmm? You two both want to go on the same mission?" asked Lucy curiously.

"It seemed rather easy...it's not even far away from home, to be honest." answered Shikamaru.

"I wanted a mission that was peaceful!" exclaimed Natsu.

"I see...well then, why don't you two work together then? I'm sure that you can give each other a hand...though admittedly each of you could probably do it alone." noted Lucy.

"Sure...do you want to come with? You seem to be dressed in ninja garb...which admittedly looks great on you." noted Shikamaru.

"Thank you! Tsunade gave it to me to show her appreciation at my willingness to help others...and yes...what is the mission?" said Lucy.

"Oh, it's rather simple...we're on a diplomatic mission to visit another clan not too far away from us...they have just enough members to be considered a clan now...they're known as the Yasuragi Clan." explained the shadow ninja.

"Yasuragi Clan?" inquired Natsu, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes...they've only been around for a month or so...so you probably haven't heard of them. I only heard about them yesterday to be honest." noted Shikamaru.

"It's good to see that the world of ninja has another clan..." nodded Lucy.

"Not all clans are good, but from what we've seen from them so far they don't intend on harming anybody else. We're giving them a peace offering so that we can be friends...or something like that." explained the shadow ninja.

"Really? That's awfully sweet of Tsunade..." explained the mage. Then again, she had given her a gift not too long ago.

"She feels that the more ninja she has on her side, the better. And considering just how powerful our clans are when united...she's probably right." said Shikamaru.

"I see." nodded Lucy. Apparently, Lady Tsunade believed in strength in numbers...which explained how populated Konoha was.

"Can we get going? Being in public makes me nervous...I want to go out in the wild where we won't find so many people..." said Natsu.

"Yes, of course." answered the summoner mage. Natsu was at least brave enough at the moment to accept another mission, so at least that was something.

Immediately, Natsu, Lucy, and Shikamaru set out to visit the Yasuragi Clan. They left Konoha's borders and once again headed out into the wilderness.

Sure enough, according to the map, the Yasuragi Clan wasn't too far from them.

But unbeknowst to them, they weren't the only ones planning on paying them a visit.

As it turned out, Kenichi was also planning on visiting them as well. He was still riding his dragon, and he was still searching for victims.

"Hmm? Do you see something?" inquired the ninja curiously.

Kaishi nodded.

Curious, Kenichi used his Rinnegan to scan his surroundings...and discovered that it was exactly what was he was looking for.

It was none other than a clan of weak ninja...the exact type of clan he wanted to eradicate from the world.

All of a sudden, he knew what his next target was.

"Alright then...it's time for us to separate the strong from the weak." said Kenichi as he began to smile.

Kaishi roared in triumph.

Immediately, Kenichi and Kaishi began to fly towards the village the Yasuragi Clan were residing in.

In the process, he passed above Lucy, Natsu, and Shikamaru's heads.

Fortunately for the trio, he did not notice them, as he was currently focused on his current assignment.

However, the trio managed to notice him.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Lucy in surprise.

Curious, she heard a rather loud roaring sound, causing her to jump.

Immediately, Natsu began to hide behind a tree. It sounded like some sort of ferocious creature.

"I'm not sure...was that some sort of dragon? I could have sworn that it was some sort of flying reptile...then again, maybe I was just hallucinating..." inquired Shikamaru.

Oddly enough, he had heard that those beasts were rather scarce...though admittedly several ninja techniques had been named after them nonetheless. Apparently, people were rather impressed by their power.

"I think so...I also believe that there was somebody riding on its back...what was he doing up there? Did he tame the dragon somehow? I wonder how he managed to pull something like that off..." continued Lucy.

Shikamaru's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hmm?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I don't get it...I thought he was just a rumor. And what exactly is he doing so close to Konoha? The rumors never mentioned about him coming here...he always was somewhere else..." explained the shadow ninja.

"Who was just a rumor?" inquired Natsu.

"Um, Natsu...Lucy...if the rumors about that man and that dragon are true...we need to call off the mission." said Shikamaru.

"Call off the mission? But we just started not too long ago. Tsunade's not going to be happy if we tell her that we failed." explained Lucy.

"I will admit that Lady Tsunade will be disappointed, but she'll be much more upset if she found us all lying dead on the floor like those unfortunate ANBU members. It is for our own safety." answered Shikamaru.

"Our own safety?" inquired the kunoichi. All of a sudden, she was starting to feel rather frightened of that mysterious dragonrider. He certainly didn't sound like a good person.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm? Oh, that's right. You aren't from the world of ninja...I guess I better explain the rumors then." explained the shadow ninja.

"The rumors?" asked Natsu.

"Yes...rumor has it that there's a man who can summon a dragon that travels across the world in order to purify it of ninja he considers inferior to himself...or in other words kill them." explained Shikamaru.

"What?!" exclaimed Lucy. The dragonrider was a serial killer?

Curious, Natsu used his Byakugan...and discovered that the mysterious dragon rider was heading straight towards the clan that they were originally intending to go to.

He had a bad feeling what he was intending to do.

"Now that I think of it...I believe Lady Tsunade told me that if I ever saw him in the Land Of Fire...or heard about his whereabouts, I needed to tell her right away." explained Shikamaru.

"I guess we should tell her what we saw then. Konoha may be in danger." nodded Lucy.

"Oddly enough I don't think he's even paid us a visit before...but I agree. We need to tell Tsunade about this immediately. Any place that man goes is a place that we need to stay away from...as well as everyone else." nodded Shikamaru.

"Yes, sir!" exclaimed Natsu.

Immediately, Lucy, Natsu, and Shikamaru headed back towards Konoha to tell them the bad news.

_Well, we've managed to find out what Chiyoye's been planning this whole time...did I scare you? I'm afraid that she's not going to be one of the comedic villains we've seen so far...I will admit Ebemener Scourge was a rather goofy character even if he was a serious threat to Christmas...but I can't say the same for her._

_Of course, I can't say the same for Kenichi, either! I'm afraid he's planning an attack on the Yasuragi Clan as we speak...and yes, he's not planning on leaving any survivors._

_I hope you enjoy this chapter even if it was rather scary instead of comedic..._

_Peace!_


	14. Chapter 14: Genocide

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...we're going to learn more about Kenichi...and he's going to do something that is terrible._

_Oh, and we're going to see some different characters for a change...you should probably know who they are._

**Chapter 14: Genocide**

Lucy, Natsu, and Shikamaru entered the Fifth Hokage's office to tell her the bad news.

"Did you complete the mission?" inquired Tsunade.

"I'm afraid not..." answered Lucy.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?" asked the Sannin.

"You see...we had a chance encounter...with the dragon rider." answered Shikamaru.

"You did?!" exclaimed Tsunade.

"Yes, we did..." answered Natsu.

"That's very serious..." explained the Sannin.

"Up until now I thought that he didn't really exist...and that people simply told tales about him to scare people..." answered Shikamaru.

"How I wish that were true..." nodded Tsunade.

"You knew about his existence?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"Yes, I did." nodded the Fifth Hokage.

"Who is he?" inquired Lucy.

"His name is Kenichi. He is part of the Chikawa Clan..." explained Tsunade.

"The Chikawa Clan? I thought they were all wiped out..." said Shikamaru.

"Yes, they were." answered the Sannin.

"So, are you going to tell us about Kenichi?" asked Lucy.

"Yes, I am...but first, let me start from the beginning. Before I tell you about Kenichi, I shall tell you about his clan." explained Tsunade.

"The Chikawa clan were not an evil clan...but they were very arrogant. They believed that they were the best clan there was...or at least one day they would. They would often go on missions simply to show how superior they were." explained the Sannin.

"Sounds like their leader had an ego..." spoke Lucy.

"Yes. Unfortunately, his clan took his message that they should try to be the best that they could be too literally. That said, he wasn't such an arrogant man himself...though admittedly he could have done more to discourage them from being egotistical." noted Tsunade.

"I see." nodded Lucy.

"Where was I? Ah yes. Eventually, a rather special ninja was born to them...a ninja that happened to possess the Rinnegan. That ninja was known as Kenichi...Kenichi Chikawa." explained Tsunade.

"Go on..." answered Natsu.

"Suffice to say, their clan was very excited. They believed that he was their hero and that he was going to bring honor to their clan, just like his ancestors before him." said Tsunade.

"If he's a hero, then why are you so afraid of him?" asked Lucy.

"Believe me, Lucy, he is anything but...but to his clan they thought he was. They in fact wanted them to be their leader once their old one retired or passed away." continued the Fifth Hokage.

"Interesting..." murmured Natsu.

"For a moment, it did seem that he was going to bring honor to his clan. He accepted the compliments with stride and waved whenever anyone else saw him." said the Sannin.

"I'm assuming things didn't stay that way." answered Shikamaru.

"I'm afraid not. Unfortunately, the compliments began to get to him. He started becoming rather arrogant, and he believed that he was the strongest ninja there was." explained Tsunade.

"Incidentally, he was not an only child. He in fact had a younger brother by the name of Ayumu...who unlike him happened to be the laughingstock of his clan. He was a rather weak ninja, to say the very least." explained the Fifth Hokage.

"Sorry to hear that..." answered Lucy.

"Unfortunately, this weakness caused Kenichi to view him with scorn, and eventually, he decided to take action against him." continued Tsunade.

"What did he do?" inquired Natsu.

"He stabbed him to death with a kunai." answered Tsunade.

Natsu gasped in shock.

"Naturally, his parents discovered what had befallen their son, and they immediately began to mourn his death. This baffled Kenichi, who thought that his brother had deserved to die, and could not understand why they would be upset that somebody so weak had perished." explained Tsunade.

"Eventually, he decided to kill them as well, blowing them to bits with paper bombs."

"How terrible..." murmured Lucy.

"Afterwards, he began to see his entire clan as being beneath himself. He started luring other ninja that considered him to be his friend out in the nearby forest so that he could slay them while no-one was watching." said Tsunade.

"Wait...why didn't his clan investigate the murders?" inquired Shikamaru.

"If his clan had a sense of humility, they likely would have included him on a list of possible suspects. But they believed that their chosen hero would never do something like this to them, especially not his brother or his parents." continued Tsunade.

"So...what are you saying is...he's a serial killer?" asked Lucy.

"I'm afraid that he's worse than that." answered the Sannin.

Lucy gulped.

"Eventually, Kenichi decided that his entire clan needed to be purged. Using the animal path of his Rinnegan, he summoned a dragon to lay waste to this entire village. He burned it to the ground...and left no survivors." explained Tsunade.

Natsu began to cry. It was a rather sad story.

"Since then, Kenichi had made it his goal in life to completely eradicate the weak from the world of ninja. To this end, he has wiped out clan after clan after clan." said the Fifth Hokage.

"Has anyone ever tried to stop him?" asked Shikamaru.

"I'm afraid it's not so simple...you see, Kenichi never leaves a pattern in his attacks. One moment he could strike in the Land Of Water...the next he could strike in the Land Of Lightning..." continued Tsunade.

"Sorry to hear that." answered Lucy.

"And those that do encounter him often end up retreating...they simply find him to be too horrifying to fight. And considering how many clans he's wiped out...that's not too surprising." answered the Sannin.

"Why is he just a rumor around Konoha then?" inquired Shikamaru.

"We happen to be rather fortunate...due to our alliances between our clans, Kenichi does not consider us weak enough to assault us. Other clans...they weren't so lucky." explained Tsunade.

"That explains it..." answered Lucy.

"However, considering how close he's been to our city lately...I'm starting to wonder if that's beginning to change." continued the Fifth Hokage.

"Oh, my..." murmured the kunoichi.

"Anyway, I'm glad that you called off the mission...where exactly was he heading?" asked Tsunade.

"I believe he was heading towards-oh, god..." murmured Natsu.

"I think he's going to strike again..." answered Lucy.

_Meanwhile..._

The chieftain of the Yasuragi clan smiled in satisfaction. Konoha was offering to accept them as one of their own...and now they could really get started.

Incidentally, he had white hair as well as a beard. He in fact somewhat resembled Makarov...though unlike him he happened to wear a headband on his forehead, since he was a ninja rather than a mage.

Granted, they probably wouldn't end up as famous as any of the other clans of Konoha considering how large they already were...but at least they would be accepted nonetheless.

"Greetings, my fellow clan members! Today is the day we're going to be joining forces with the Leaf Village! It is a special day indeed..." said the chief.

Immediately, the villagers began to celebrate. They were going to get recognized. Hopefully their clan would prosper.

"At this very moment...their ninja are going to be giving us a present of good will...personally I wonder what it is...but I think I'm going to enjoy it." said the chief.

The villagers nodded. Whatever it was, it sounded good.

Suddenly, he noticed that there appeared to be someone in the distance.

Curious, he wondered if it was the same ninja that were going to be giving him a present as a token of good will.

Unfortunately, it was not.

It was none other than Kenichi and Kaishi...and he was planning to destroy the entire village.

At that very moment, Kaishi began to open his mouth...

...and began to spew flames over the village.

Within seconds the village was on fire!

Immediately, the members of the Yasuragi clan began to scream in horror. Just what exactly was going on?

Realizing that a ninja was responsible and that he was plotting their deaths, they began to flee from Kenichi...

... but he had a way to counter that.

Using the magnetic abilities of his Deva Path, Kenichi sent the fleeing villagers straight into the mouth of his dragon.

Kaishi eagerly devoured them, much to his master's delight.

"Trying to escape from me, are you? Oh, how many of you have already tried that...and failed." replied Kenichi.

However, not all of the members of the clan were simply going to flee from the dark ninja. They had a village to protect.

Immediately, some of the Yasuragi ninja began to toss kunai and paper bombs at his dragon, hoping that this would impede him.

Unfortunately, these would not do the Yasuragi ninja any good. Due to the scales covering Kaishi's body, kunai and paper bombs were completely useless against him. They were going to need a jutsu if they wanted to injure him...and a powerful one at that.

Some of the Yasuragi ninja tried tossing kunai and paper bombs at Kenichi instead, but due to his ability to repel objects as well as attract them, they simply bounced off his body.

"You call these ninja tools? Don't make me laugh. This is a true ninja tool." said the last of the Chikawa clan as he began to pull out a paper bomb.

Unlike a regular paper bomb, this particular bomb happened to be purple.

Kenichi dropped it to the ground...and immediately there was an enormous explosion that shook the village and devastated its defenders.

"This was even easier than I thought it would be..." thought the ninja. He had to admit, using his chakra to upgrade standard ninja tools to give him an edge over other ninja sure was proving useful.

The Yasuragi chief immediately gasped in shock upon seeing this mysterious ninja. He had thought that he was just a legend.

And yet here he was, standing before him...and within minutes he had wiped out his people.

And as he quickly discovered, he was next.

At that very moment, Kenichi began to approach.

"What do you want from us?" inquired the Yasuragi chief.

"Oh, nothing much...I just want you to die...and for you to stop plaguing the world of the strong. You are a pest and must be exterminated." answered the ninja.

"Don't do this! Just because we're weaker than other ninja doesn't mean we have to die like this! Stop!" screamed the ninja leader.

Ignoring the leader of the Yasuragi clan's cries for mercy, Kenichi used his Human Path to rip out the soul from the man's body, killing him instantly.

He smirked in satisfaction a few seconds later.

"Well, now that I've crushed that insect underneath my heel...I suppose it's time for me to move on. There are other clans that need to be eradicated...and I'm not going to stop until I've destroyed them all." said the ninja.

Before he left, Kenichi checked to see if there were any survivors using his Rinnegan. Occasionally, he would end up finding somebody that had tried to hide from him...not that it did them any favors in the end.

Sure enough, he could not find any survivors. The entire clan had been eradicated, and his mission was complete.

"It looks like a job well done." he thought.

Immediately, he went onto his dragon's back and began to fly off into the sunset.

_Meanwhile..._

At that very moment, Fairy Tail came to investigate the reports of the dragon that was terrorizing the populace.

However, much to their surprise, there did not appear to be any sign of the dragon.

Makarov raised an eyebrow.

"Where is the dragon?" asked Makarov curiously.

"A dragon? What are you talking about?" inquired a citizen.

Immediately, Makarov began to wonder if he had been deceived.

Now that he thought of it, Erza had decided to turn back because there was a voice in her head telling her to do so...maybe she was right on the money.

Who could have sent them that fake mission request?

Sighing, Makarov decided it was time to head back to his guild...which he arrived at a few hours later.

However, much to his surprise, he noticed that Naruto and Erza seemed very worried about something.

"What's the matter?" inquired Makarov.

"It's Chiyoye...she killed the missing Fairy Tail recruits!" bellowed the genin.

"What?!" bellowed the guildmaster.

Immediately, the other members of the guild gasped in shock. Was Chiyoye really responsible for what had been happening lately?

"She also stole the Book Of Dark Arts..." continued Erza.

"Oh...oh no." answered Makarov.

"This is bad, isn't it?" inquired Naruto.

"I'm afraid so..." nodded the leader of the guild.

"What should we do?" asked Gray curiously.

"Prepare for the worst." answered Makarov.

"I believe that she happens to be a necromanceress...she used some skeletons to attack me when I went to rescue Naruto..." explained Erza.

"Necromancy? Isn't that considered taboo in Fiore?" questioned Levy.

"Yes, it is." nodded Makarov.

"I have to admit...it was rather smart of her to use those skeletons to guard her personal chambers..." noted Naruto.

"Where do you think she went?" asked Jet curiously.

"Well, she mentioned something about becoming stronger." answered Erza.

"If so...then we may be in danger." nodded Makarov.

Naruto then remembered that Chiyoye got her strength from draining the life and magic from her victims (or in his case, chakra), and began to wonder if she was looking for more victims.

"That doesn't narrow down where she could have gone though..." answered Droy.

"We might need to search for her." nodded Hinata.

"But where do we look?" asked Naruto.

Makarov began to ponder.

_Meanwhile..._

Fortunately for Chiyoye, her teleport spell had taken her a fair distance away from the Fairy Tail guild.

She let out a sigh of relief. As much as she didn't like to admit it, she wasn't powerful enough to take on Fairy Tail yet...though admittedly she had drained the magic out of their fresh recruits.

On the plus side, they did not seem aware to where she had gone. Of course, this did not mean that they were going to search for her...and she began to wonder if she should try disguising herself.

Personally, she was expecting to be playing Exceed-and-mouse with her victims rather than being the mouse and Fairy Tail the Exceeds, but apparently that was inevitable considering that she was now a wanted criminal. Ah well. She didn't want things to be too easy.

Curious, she remembered that she had the guild mark on her forehead even though she had decided to leave Fairy Tail, and decided that she might as well remove it.

However, just when she was about to do so, a passerby ran up to her. He was a young man with black hair and blue clothing.

Apparently, he wanted her help with something.

"What is your name? My name is Michael." said the man.

"My name is Chiyoye..." answered the necromanceress.

"You're a Fairy Tail mage, are you not? Can you give us a hand?" asked the citizen of Fiore.

Raising an eyebrow, Chiyoye realized that people still thought that she was a Fairy Tail mage depsite her defection, and decided that she could use it to her advantage.

"Sure..." nodded the necromanceress.

Immediately, the citizen directed her towards a nearby city...which unfortunately was the perfect place for her to begin her reign of terror.

This particular city was known as Elm Town...despite being a city.

"Our mayor wants a word with you. He says that he wants to know what happened to his citizens...they all decided to join Fairy Tail and then they disappeared...Makarov never explained what happened to them." explained Michael.

Chiyoye chuckled. She knew at once that he was referring to the dozen mages that she had killed to increase her power.

However, after realizing how large the city was...Chiyoye realized that she was going to have to start out slow. If she drew too much attention to herself, the city guard was going to catch her...and they would inevitably have other mages on their side.

So, she decided that she was simply going to murder one person at a time for the time being...

...and a helpful man had just provided himself.

Immediately, Chiyoye approached Michael and touched his forehead.

"Hmm? Why are you touching me?" asked the man.

And then the screaming began.

_Meanwhile..._

"Do you have anything that we can use to track her down?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Well, we've managed to find something that we can use to keep track of her mana to see how much stronger she is getting...as for tracking her down, we're still working on that." answered Makarov.

Immediately, the guildmaster placed a crystal ball on the table that they could use to monitor her power.

Fortunately, it appeared that Chiyoye was still not particularly powerful at the moment, as the mana in the crystal ball was still blue. Apparently, the mana in the crystal ball would change in color whenever Chiyoye grew powerful enough.

However, Naruto noticed that the mana in the crystal ball was slowly increasing...meaning that Chiyoye was slowly getting more powerful.

"The sooner we manage to find her, the better, right?" asked the genin curiously.

"Yes." nodded Erza.

"I guess we better get looking." answered Naruto.

"Actually, I would suggest that you would keep on doing missions at the moment for now...in case you haven't noticed, the people of Fiore still need our help..." answered Makarov.

"What? But what about Chiyoye?" inquired the genin.

"We'll work on locating her, but for now, we keep on doing missions. We're still receiving them and we still need to do them." nodded Makarov.

"OK..." nodded Naruto.

"I now realize why she looks so much younger than she really is...ugh, I think I'm going to be sick." answered Mirajane.

"I'm going to go drown my sorrows..." said Cana.

"Me too..." nodded Elfman as he followed Cana.

Jet immediately dashed away.

Droy went to get something to eat.

Levy went back to reading a book.

"I'll go get an ice cream cone..." said Gray.

"I'm scared..." said Hinata.

"It's OK...I'm sure we'll manage to catch her eventually." nodded Naruto.

"I hope so." answered the kunoichi. By the looks of it, she was going on a killing spree...and she had already hurt enough people as it was.

"I'll see you tomorrow Naruto...I can't believe Chiyoye deceived us all like this...I had my suspicions when Mirajane mentioned that she was a lot older than she looked..." noted Hinata.

"We can't let her get away with what she's done...to think those mages had only been part of Fairy Tail for a week at the most..." answered Naruto.

"Yes...that's why we should try hunting her down and bringing her to justice." nodded the kunoichi.

"Yes...but as we said, we need to keep working...Makarov said that we can't slack off...even if admittedly there's a serial killer on the loose..." noted Naruto.

"Yes, of course...as I said, I'll see you tomorrow...along with Happy." nodded Hinata.

"Bye!" exclaimed Happy.

"See you later!" bellowed Naruto.

Happy and Hinata immediately went back home.

Naruto immediately let out a sigh. Personally, after everything that had happened to him today...he didn't think he was going to be able to sleep peacefully.

Were they going to catch Chiyoye soon? From what he had seen from her some far, she had the rather peculiar ability to get herself out of dangerous situations.

"They're going to have to be good if they want to catch her..." thought Naruto.

_Meanwhile..._

At the Phantom Lord guild base, Master Jose was not happy. As he had just discovered, Fairy Tail had become rather well-off thanks to their recent recruit, Lucy Heartfilia.

Suffice to say, he was rather jealous.

Not only that, they had also apparently obtained two new recruits that was all the way from another world...thanks to the magic of an interdimensional portal.

He was not amused.

As soon as his lackies Boze and Sue gave him the latest newspaper, he began to tear it to shreds.

"I...hate...Fairy Tail!" he screamed.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Boze.

"It's that obnoxious Fairy Tail guild! Ever since that idiot Makarov told me that his guild was better than mine while he was intoxicated, I just can't take them anymore!" exclaimed Master Jose.

"Don't you think you're getting angry over something petty?" asked Sue.

"Don't tell me what to do! I'm your master!" bellowed Master Jose.

"Right...of course." answered Boze.

"No matter. Thanks to this personal spellbook of mine, I can create an interdimensional portal that's even better than his. Unlike that interdimensional portal that opens and closes on a whim...I can activate it for as long as I want!" exclaimed the leader of Phantom Lord.

"That's rather impressive." noted Sue.

"And I'm going to be testing it...using some of my best mages!" continued Master Jose.

Immediately, the Element 4 entered the room.

"Bonjour, monsieur Jose!" greeted Monsieur Sol.

"Greetings, my S-class mages...today we are going to be testing out an interdimensional portal...one is superior to that imbecile Makarov's." said Master Jose.

"Really?" asked Juvia.

"It should lead exactly to that alternate world that Makarov is getting reinforcements from...I want you to investigate it. See if you can recruit some followers to join our cause." ordered the Shadow Gear.

"That seems reasonable." nodded Totomaru.

"Under no circumstances are you to fail me. Understood?" inquired Master Jose.

"What if we get blown away to the Land of O-"

"I said under no circumstances!" bellowed the leader of Phantom Lord.

"Yes, master..." nodded Aria.

Immediately, the Element 4 entered the portal to see where it lead.

As it turned out, the interdimensional portal in question led to what appeared to be a village.

However, on closer inspection, it was actually a series of laboratories.

"How very odd...I recall working in one of these once...but I'd never imagine seeing so many of them at once..." noted Totomaru.

"Juvia wonders who could have built all these..." spoke the water mage.

_Meanwhile..._

As it turned, Orochimaru was also planning on doing an experiment.

However, in this case, he planned on experimenting on a person.

Who was it? It was none other than Naruto Uzumaki. After getting his hands on his best friend Sasuke Uchiha...Orochimaru began to wonder if he should try experimenting on a jinchuriki for a change.

If he could get one of the tailed beasts on his side, destroying Konoha would be a cakewalk. Alternatively, he could use to simply blackmail them. Maybe get some new test subjects for his laboratory.

Of course, in order to do that...he was going to have to capture the teenage boy.

Immediately, he called for his right-hand man...which of course was Kabuto.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru?" inquired Orochimaru's second-in-command.

"I need you to get the Sound Four...they've got another mission to complete..." answered Orochimaru.

Kabuto raised an eyebrow. He had not called upon them for almost three years now...

"You heard me the first time, didn't you?" asked Orochimaru.

"Yes, of course." nodded the medical ninja.

Immediately, Kabuto went to retrieve the Sound Four. Miraculously, they were still alive after their disasterous encounters with the Leaf and Sand Ninja.

Fortunately for Orochimaru, Kabuto was able to bring them back from the brink of death using his healing jutsus...and they were once again in shape to go on missions...which typically involved killing people, since they were psychopaths.

He had even managed to prevent Kimimaro from dying...though unfortunately he still suffered from his terminal illness.

Unfortunately, even after almost three years, he had no cure for the illness. He may have been a good ninja doctor, but he wasn't the legendary Tsunade.

What exactly did Kimimaro catch, anyway? He hadn't found any illness like it in his medical books. Considering that he was able to bring even a powerful ninja like him to his knees...he was starting to wonder if it had set some sort of record.

The Sound Four arrived on the scene a few minutes later.

"You called for us, master?" inquired Sakon.

"I'm sending you on a mission to retrieve a boy by the name of Naruto Uzumaki...who you happened to have met almost three years ago..." explained Orochimaru.

"Well well well, if it isn't for that little twerp...oh, how I've been waiting to get revenge on him..." noted Jirobo.

"I'm going to wring him by his-

HONK!

"-ing neck!" bellowed Tayuya.

As it turned out, Jirobo now had an air horn that he could use whenever Tayuya swore...which was rather often.

"As satisfying as it would be to kill the boy...I assure you that he is of more use to us alive...as you may well be aware of...he happens to have a nine-tailed fox inside him...that of course will die alongside him if he perishes." explained Orochimaru.

"God-

HONK!

"it! Why can't we kill him?! That little-" bellowed Tayuya.

HONK!

"deserves to die!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"I was hoping to play a game with him first anyway..." answered Kidomaru.

"I'm really glad I got this air horn..." thought Jirobo.

"Do whatever it takes to capture the boy...just make sure he arrives to me alive..." answered Orochimaru.

"Are we under a time limit again? I remember our last mission ended with you deciding to take Sasuke as an apprentice instead of a body...since you were suffering too much." inquired Sakon.

"No no no. You're not under a time limit this time. By all means, feel free to take your time...I know that Jirobo and Kidomaru will." noted Orochimaru.

Jirobo began to eat some potato chips while Kidomaru twiddled his six thumbs.

Immediately, the Sound Four left Orochimaru's laboratory to search for Naruto...unaware that he was no longer the jinchuriki of the nine-tailed fox.

However, at that very moment, they noticed the interdimensional portal that Phantom Lord was using.

"What the-

HONK!

"-is that?" inquired Tayuya.

As it turned out, the Element 4 had already left to explore their surroundings...and the Sound Four noticed them from a distance.

"Who are those four? They oddly remind me of ourselves..." noted Jirobo.

In particular, the one wearing a monocle reminded Jirobo of himself for some particular reason...he wondered why.

"You think they're Leaf Ninja?" asked Sakon curiously.

"Probably not...they don't dress anything like them." answered Kidomaru.

"If they're Leaf Ninja, I'm going to slit their-

HONK!

"-ing throats with a kunai!" bellowed Tayuya.

"Would it kill you not to swear for a change?" asked Jirobo.

"Yes, it would! Shut up!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Aren't you a cute couple." noted Sakon.

Tayuya and Jirobo sweatdropped.

"Should we...go inside? I have to admit I'm rather curious." noted Kidomaru.

"I guess we could take a closer look..." nodded Sakon.

Immediately, the Sound Four entered the portal to investigate...unaware that in doing so they were going to become a bit...different.

_Are you surprised to find out what Kenichi has done to his own clan? What do you think of him now?_

_Of course, I probably already know the answer...and I probably know what you think of Chiyoye too...and yes, she's going to be killing a lot of people soon..._

_In the next chapter...Naruto is going to meet some old "friends" of his...but thankfully his new friends (and Hinata) will aid him._


	15. Chapter 15: The Sound Four

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...Naruto's going to be encountering...the Sound Four! But thankfully his friends are going to be helping him..._

_Unfortunately, they're not his only problem...Phantom Lord is planning on attacking Fairy Tail...basically they're in strife._

_Of course, I've also received a complaint that Kenichi has been overpowered...not to worry, you won't see him wipe out a clan like that again...at least not for a while. Just for record, he's one of the main antagonists in my story...as for the other main antagonist...you should probably know who they are._

**Chapter 15: The Sound Four**

"I have to admit...Kenichi sounds really powerful...apparently he has the power to single-handedly destroy a clan..." noted Lucy.

"It's good that he isn't planning on invading Konoha..." nodded Natsu.

"I wonder if there's a way to stop him...from what Lady Tsunade had told us...he's already wiped out over a dozen clans..." answered Shikamaru.

"Surely if there's a will there's a way, right?" inquired the summoner mage.

"I suppose...to think that his first victim was his own brother..." questioned the shadow ninja.

"I know...it's shocking." nodded Lucy.

"You think we would survive if we encountered him again?" asked Natsu.

"We might want to keep track of his whereabouts..." answered Shikamaru.

Curious, Natsu noticed that two ninja were talking to each other about what had happened recently.

Apparently, the Yasuragi clan village had mysteriously been burned to the ground.

Undoubtedly, it was the work of Kenichi.

Natsu sighed. He was afraid that was going to happen.

"I can't believe it...an entire clan has disappeared...just like that!" exclaimed one of the ninja.

"Yes, I know." nodded his partner.

"I wonder what happened to them..." questioned one of the ninja.

"You think this was the work of a ninja?" inquired the other ninja.

"Who would do such a thing?" inquired the first ninja.

Natsu sighed. If only there was something that they could have done to save them.

Hopefully, somebody would put an end to Kenichi's reign of terror someday.

But for now, he was just going to have to keep on doing more missions for the good of Konoha.

"Right...I'll just keep on doing missions with my friends...and try not to get in too much trouble..." thought Natsu.

Speaking of his friends, he wondered how his best friend Happy was doing.

Now that he thought of it, he was starting to miss the Exceed. It simply wasn't going to be the same doing missions without him.

Now that he thought of it...when was the last time they didn't do something together?

He just hoped that wherever he was...he was doing OK. Maybe if they managed to reopen the interdimensional portal he could come to pay him a visit.

Then again, it was possible that would make Happy end up getting trapped in the world of ninja as well...and he didn't want him to end up being stranded too.

Of course, that would also lead to the possibility of him becoming someone's interdimensional partner...since it had already happened twice.

"I hope that wherever he is...he's having a good time." thought the fire mage.

_Meanwhile..._

Happy let out a cough.

"What's the matter?" inquired Hinata.

"I think I've got a hairball." answered the Exceed.

Hinata immediately gave Happy the Heimlich manuever.

"Thank you..." answered the Exceed.

"You're welcome." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, Happy began to frown.

"What's the matter?" asked Hinata.

"I miss Natsu..." answered Happy.

"I see..." nodded the kunoichi.

"To be honest, I can't even remember how long he's been gone..." said the Exceed.

"It's been about a week..." answered Hinata.

"Really? It's already been that long?" inquired Happy.

"Yes, I know...time seems to be flying fast these days." noted the kunoichi.

"Uh-huh!" nodded the Exceed.

"It's been two weeks since Naruto's arrived here..." answered Hinata.

"Really? Is he homesick yet?" inquired Happy.

"I'm not sure...he seems to be enjoying being a wizard...even if he formerly was a ninja." answered the kunoichi.

"Isn't he still technically a ninja?" asked the Exceed curiously.

"It's true, he is. Then again, so am I." nodded Hinata.

"But you're a dragonslayer now!" exclaimed Happy.

"It's true, I am..." answered the kunoichi as she lit her right hand on fire.

"Can you make fireworks with that?" inquired the Exceed.

Hinata nodded, and began to do so.

"Hooray!" exclaimed Happy.

"You sure we should be doing this indoors?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I don't know!" answered the Exceed.

"Hmm..." questioned Hinata. She was starting to hope that Natsu had house insurance.

Then again, if she did end up burning the house down...she might end up getting in trouble for insurance fraud.

"Everyone knows that I would never do something like that...right?" inquired Hinata.

Then again, she had a pretty high insurance policy back home.

"Should we go outdoors?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Sure!" nodded Happy. He needed some fresh air.

Immediately, Hinata and Happy went outside the house.

"In retrospect...maybe we should try doing this during the nighttime...it'd be easier to see the fireworks that way." questioned the kunoichi.

"True..." nodded Happy.

_At the Fairy Tail guild base..._

Fortunately for Naruto, as he discovered, they did in fact sell ramen at the Fairy Tail cafeteria...though admittedly they only started doing so recently.

Immediately, Naruto started consuming the ramen. It was delicious.

"I'm starting to feel at home...though admittedly it's probably going to be a long time before I get back..." answered the genin.

Yet for some strange reason, he got the feeling that something big was going to happen today. He couldn't quite put his finger on it...but it sounded like something that concerned him.

"What could it possibly be?" inquired the genin.

Considering what happened when Erza decided to trust her instinct, he wondered if he should try trusting it as well.

"Hmm..." thought the genin.

Was something bad going to happen? Then again, Chiyoye had already left the Fairy Tail guild long ago.

Of course, there was the possibility that she was up to something.

Curious, he decided to check the crystal ball that Levy had set up...thankfully, she didn't seem much more powerful than when he first saw her.

"That's a relief..." answered Naruto. Suffice to say, it looks like she wasn't a threat to Fairy Tail at the moment.

Nonetheless, he got the feeling that something big was happening back at his world as well. He was starting to wonder if Chiyoye wasn't the only one threatening his friends.

"I'm starting to get worried..." thought the genin. Were his friends on the other side in danger too?

"Is there anywhere that's safe?" he said out loud.

"I wish I knew that answer myself." answered Mirajane.

"Hmm?" inquired Naruto.

"Apparently, a citizen in Elm Town has been murdered...they found his body right outside the city...his skin was pale as snow..." said Mirajane.

"You think this was Chiyoye's handiwork?" asked the genin.

"Apparently. The authorities believe that this was the work of the wizard...as he had appeared to have fallen victim to a spell." nodded the S-class mage.

"Sheesh..." murmured Naruto.

"Apparently, that's just a sign of what's to come..." noted Mirajane.

Curious, Naruto noticed that Droy was eating food in the cafeteria...and a lot of it.

Oddly enough, he reminded him of someone he knew personally...but just who was it?

"Hey there!" exclaimed the genin.

"Um, hello!" answered Droy.

"Are you enjoying those chicken wings?" asked the genin.

"Yes, I am." nodded the member of Team Shadow Gear.

"Are you going on a mission soon?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes...usually I do some with my teammates...I happen to be part of a team called Team Shadow Gear...Makarov said that together we can do anything..." continued Droy.

Once again, Naruto was reminded of a trio that he knew personally. Just who were they?

"Well, I'm done with my lunch now...I'm going to go see Jet and Levy." said the plant user.

"See you!" exclaimed Naruto.

Immediately, Droy went to go visit his friends and teammates.

"Now that I think of it...Levy also reminds me of someone else I know...who could it possibly be?" inquired the genin.

Shrugging, Naruto decided to continue eating his ramen. It was as delicious as it was back in his home world.

_Meanwhile..._

Makarov was checking his mail for today. For a moment, it seemed as if nothing unusual was happening.

Of course, there was that rumor that one of his mages had gone rogue...but other than that he was doing fine.

However, at that very moment, he found something that surprised me.

It was a letter bearing Phantom Lord's insignia.

"Hmm?" inquired Makarov.

Curious, the elderly man opened the letter to see what it read.

He immediately gasped in shock.

"What?!" bellowed Makarov.

Dear Makarov,

Hand over Lucy Heartfilia to us or your guild shall be destroyed!

Sincerely,

Master Jose

Makarov gasped in shock. It was none other than his old friend, Master Jose...

Apparently, he wanted Lucy Heartfilia...he began to wonder why.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to grant that request even if he wanted to. Lucy was stranded all the way in an alternate world...and he did not have the means to bring her back.

It looked like he was going to have to prepare for the worst.

"It looks like we're going to war..." thought the old man.

Hopefully, his guild would not suffer too many casualties. War could get rather...messy.

Sighing, the leader of Fairy Tail decided that he needed to warn them of the situation.

_Meanwhile..._

"Did they receive your letter?" asked Boze curiously.

"Oh, I'm sure that they have." answered Master Jose.

"You think they're going to surrender Lucy Heartfilia to us?" inquired Sue.

"I would hope so...her father promised to pay us through the house for her safe return." replied the man.

"Sounds good!" exclaimed Boze.

At that very moment, Master Jose's interdimensional portal happened to vibrate.

Oddly enough, it happened to be purple rather than the Fairy Tail's blue. Then again, it matched their guild symbol.

However, rather than the Element 4, they encountered someone completely different.

Suddenly, the Sound Four emerged from the portal, much to their surprise.

"Where are we? This looks a bit like Lord Orochimaru's laboratory..." noted Sakon.

"Your guess is as good as mine." answered Kidomaru.

"What the-" said Boze.

Master Jose sighed. Apparently, somebody had gotten curious and had investigated the interdimensional portal...much like the new recruits of Fairy Tail had apparently done.

No matter. He knew exactly what to do.

Using his magic, Master Jose sent the Sound Four back into the portal, causing them to scream in the process.

He then redirected the interdimensional portal towards the Fairy Tail base...so that they would be their problem rather than his.

"There...that takes care of that problem..." answered Master Jose.

"Who exactly were these people?" inquired Sue.

"I don't know...and I do not care." answered the shadow mage.

_Meanwhile..._

As it turned out, the interdimensional portal redirected the Sound Four towards the Fairy Tail guild hall.

Immediately, the four began to rub their heads.

"Now where are we?" asked Jirobo.

Kidomaru shrugged.

Curious, they noticed that the guild hall was decorated with rather expensive ormanents. Apparently, someone was rich.

Shrugging, the Sound Four decided to do what a group of juvenile delinquents did best.

Immediately, they began to wreck the guild hall for their own personal pleasure.

After all, that was what they were before they had decided to join Orochimaru and become a group of teenage serial killers.

Immediately, they began to break a rather expensive-looking vase.

They had to admit...they hadn't done something like this in ages...

However, their actions were not unnoticed.

Suddenly, Naruto began to hear loud noises coming from the guild hall, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Hmm?" inquired the genin curiously. It sounded like something had been smashed.

Curious, he decided to investigate the matter further while taking a bowl of ramen with him.

"Wouldn't want someone else to eat this." thought the genin.

Immediately, he entered the guild hall...

...and dropped his jaw in shock as well as his ramen bowl, breaking it in the process.

At that very moment, the Sound Four noticed him.

"Get him! Don't let him get away!" screamed Sakon.

The other members of the Sound Four nodded.

Immediately, Naruto was forced to run...or in this case jump.

Naturally, the Sound Four began to chase him.

Personally, he was surprised that they were still alive after all this time. Did they magically return from the dead?

Immediately, Naruto realized that he was going to have to find a way to slow them down if he didn't want to get caught.

Reaching into his bag, he reached for one of his summons.

In this case, it was Taurus.

"You mess with the bull, you get the horns." murmured Naruto.

Immediately, he summoned Taurus to attack the Sound Four.

"What the-"

HONK!

Once again, Tayuya was interrupted when she swore.

Immediately, Taurus charged straight towards the Sound Four.

For a moment, it seemed that he was going to single-handedly prevent them from closing in. He knocked down the Sound Four like they were dominoes.

"Ugh..." murmured Kidomaru.

However, it appeared that he wasn't going to have as much luck as he thought.

Suddenly, Jirobo grabbed Taurus by the horns. Apparently, he was going to distract Taurus while the other three continued their chase after Naruto.

"You think you can stop us? I eat hamburgers for breakfast!" bellowed Jirobo.

"That explains a lot." answered Tayuya.

Taurus's face turned pale.

Once again, Naruto found himself being chased. He immediately decided to summon another spirit.

This time, it was a summon that he had not used before.

"Curious..." thought the genin.

This particular key happened to have the crest of the scorpion on it.

"I guess it's time for me to summon another spirit..." said Naruto.

Immediately, the genin decided to summon a spirit to aid him.

In this case, it was Scorpio, who began to whip up a sandstorm.

"Thanks for your help..." answered Naruto.

"I have a date with my girlfriend..." complained the scorpion man.

"Sorry..." replied the genin.

Unfortunately for Naruto, one of the Sound Four decided to stay behind to assist the others again.

In this case, it was Kidomaru.

Immediately, he began to shoot webbing at Scorpius to restrain him...which admittedly didn't hold him long.

"A spider-man versus a scorpion-man...how ironic." thought Naruto.

Once again, the genin began to flee while Tayuya and Sakon & Ukon began to pursue him.

"Right then...two more spirits and I'll be set..." said Naruto.

However, the genin was starting to feel tired. Summoning celestial spirits was taking its toll.

Still, he was going to have to summon a third.

Shrugging, he decided to summon Aries.

"You can do this!" exclaimed Naruto.

"You sure about this?" asked the lamb spirit as she was summoned.

"Of course you can! You're my heroine!" bellowed the genin.

"OK..." answered Aries.

Immediately, she began to try to ram into Tayuya.

In retaliation, she immediately went to grab her flute...

...only to pull out a katana instead.

"What the-"

HONK!

Miraculously, Jirobo was able to censor Tayuya despite being a distance away.

Sighing, she decided that she needed to improvise.

"Back! Back or I'll make lamb chops out of you!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Sakon raised an eyebrow. Since when did Tayuya have a katana? And what happened to her flute?

Feeling rather frightened, Aries slowly began to walk away as Tayuya continued to walk towards her.

With only one Sound Four member chasing him, it looked like Naruto was almost safe.

However, he was now starting to feel really exhausted.

"Just...one...more...spirit." said Naruto.

Immediately, he began to summon a final Celestial Spirit to deal with Sakon & Ukon...

...or two.

In this case, he ended up summoning Gemini.

Apparently, due to his fatigue, he had not paid attention to what Celestial Spirit he had summoned. This particular key had a smiley and a frowny face on it.

"Can we help you?" asked Gemi and Mini.

"Yes...I need you to attack those two so I can make a getaway." explained Naruto.

Gemi and Mini nodded, and they began to transform into...Sakon and Ukon.

"Thank you." answered Naruto.

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Sakon began to attack the duo along with his brother...who was providing him with extra arms and legs.

However, Naruto was having a very hard time jumping away.

"C'mon...just a little further..." said the genin.

Immediately, he left the guild hall, and ended up encountering his friends in a chance meeting.

In this case, it was Elfman, Hinata, Gray, and Mirajane. As it turned out, they were all eating lunch together.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Naruto suddenly collapsed on the floor.

Of course, Hinata immediately noticed.

"Naruto! Are you OK?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I think so...it's the Sound Four! I think they want to capture me!" exclaimed Naruto.

"What? I thought you and your friends wiped them out a long time ago..." answered Hinata.

"Well, they survived our encounter with them!" bellowed Naruto.

"Who are the Sound Four?" asked Elfman curiously.

"They're a group of ninja that work for an evil ninja by the name of Orochimaru...specifically, they're his personal bodyguards." explained Naruto.

"I see." nodded Mirajane.

"Orochimaru usually sends them out whenever he wants to kill somebody...or in this case capture them." explained Naruto.

"They sound strong..." answered Gray.

"Believe me, they are...two of my friends spent a month in the infirmary because of them..." said the genin.

"Wasn't one of them my cousin Neji?" asked Hinata.

"Yes, you're right, Hinata." nodded Naruto.

"Which one was it?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I believe it was Kidomaru...the one with six arms. I think he's some sort of mutant or something...I believe that mutant spiders will do things like that to you..." answered Naruto.

"Can we help?" asked Gray.

"Yes...I'd appreciate it. I need to take a nap." answered Naruto.

Immediately, the genin fell asleep.

At that very moment, the Sound Four burst into the guild hall. Apparently, Naruto's summons weren't able to hold them off for too long.

"Here they come!" exclaimed Mirajane.

"Which ones should we take on?" asked Elfman curiously.

"I'm going to take on Kidomaru...to be honest, I want revenge on him for what he did to my cousin Neji..." answered Hinata as she set her hands on fire.

"If nobody else wants to hit a lady...I'll take on the one with the katana." explained Gray.

Mirajane raised an eyebrow. Personally, she was expecting to take on that girl herself. But apparently it wasn't meant to be.

"Can I take on the strong-looking one? I want a battle of strength..." inquired Elfman.

"I guess that leaves me with the teenage boy that has a head growing out from his neck...god, that's disturbing." answered Mirajane.

Immediately, Naruto's friends began to fight...while he slumbered in Dreamland.

Jirobo decided to start off by trapping Elfman inside a giant earth dome.

"Where did everyone go?" asked Elfman curiously.

Immediately, he tried to free himself...but as it turned out, things weren't so simple, as the earth dome could regenerate whenever he tried attacking it.

"Surely there's got to be a weak spot somewhere..." thought Elfman.

At that very moment, Jirobo began to laugh.

"Good luck getting out of zere! You'd be surprised how many have tried zat..." bellowed the muscular teen.

"Wait, did I just say something with a French accent?" asked the young man curiously.

Oddly enough, he got the strange feeling that his opponent was draining the magic out of him...suffice to say, the sooner he got out of the earth dome, the better.

Maybe he should try attacking on the other side from where he was standing?

Meanwhile, Kidomaru was using his string to tie up Hinata so that she couldn't fight back against him.

However, due to her Gentle Fist technique and her ability to manipulate fire, he wasn't having much success.

"Quit tying me up, you pervert!" exclaimed Hinata.

Kidomaru sighed. It looked like he was going to have to try a different tactic.

Immediately, the spider ninja began to distance himself away from Hinata, who began to chase him outside the guild.

"Where was the Byakugan's weak spot again?" inquired the spider man.

Suddenly, Kidomaru had the rather peculiar urge to cry...though he couldn't understand why.

Why exactly was he so upset?

He had to admit, after he fought Hinata's cousin so long ago...his memory was a bit...fuzzy.

Elsewhere, Tayuya was facing off against Gray...by trying to cut him to ribbons with a katana.

Fortunately for the former, she was about as efficient with it as she was with her flute...though she couldn't really understand why considering that she hadn't used on before.

However, Tayuya had a question...how was she going to summon her Doki without her flute?

As she pondered this, she suddenly began to feel rather...cold.

Immediately, she realized that Gray was trying to freeze her.

"Son of a-"

HONK!

Tayuya struggled not to panic. Surely, she would be able to thaw herself out, right?

At this point, the ice was already to her waist.

"Well, this was a bit too e-"

Suddenly, much to both of their surprise, Tayuya used some rainbow fire to thaw the ice.

"What the-

HONK!

"-was that?!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"I don't know!" answered Gray.

Shrugging, Tayuya decided to try shooting a fireball at the latter, who immediately ducked underneath it.

Oddly enough, the fireball happened to be red as a tomato.

Curious, Tayuya tried shooting another fireball again...that happened to be yellow.

This time, she hit, and Gray began to cough.

"It appears that the yellow fireball functions as some sort of tear gas..." questioned Tayuya.

Fortunately for the kunoichi, she was quickly adapting to her newfound abilities.

She was going to have quite a story to tell to Orochimaru once she and her squad managed to capture Naruto.

Mirajane of course was facing off against Sakon and Ukon...who were attacking using three arms and three legs.

"This is creeping me out..." thought the mage.

She had to admit, Sakon and Ukon were rather...fast.

Of course, Mirajane was far from helpless against the two, and she began to attack the duo using darkness tendrils.

However, much to Sakon's surprise, he began to retaliate by shooting bubbles at Mirajane.

Thankfully, since they were...bubbles, these weren't going to hurt her much. But she got the feeling that was just a sign of what was to come.

Oddly, she noticed that he seemed rather surprised at such an occurrence, and began to wonder what was going on. Did Sakon and Ukon somehow become someone's interdimensional partner?

According to Naruto, they weren't from the world of magic...

Suddenly, Mirajane found herself being encased inside a bubble, which Sakon personally found to be a pleasant surprise.

Immediately, he asked his brother to emerge from his body so that he could explain his new powers to him.

"Huh?" inquired Ukon as he stepped out of Sakon's body.

Mirajane raised an eyebrow. All of a sudden, she felt that she was seeing double.

Apparently, she was dealing with a group of twins.

Curious, Ukon noticed that Sakon had somehow managed to encase Mirajane inside a bubble.

"How exactly did you do that, brother?" inquired Ukon.

Sakon shrugged.

"Do you want to sit back and watch her oxygen give out?" asked the twin.

Sakon nodded.

Back at the lobby, Elfman was still trying to find a way to escape Jirobo's deathtrap.

Eventually, he managed to find a way.

"Maybe if I attack the opposite side from where he's standing..." thought the man.

Elfman immediately punched through the wall...and much to his pleasant surprise, it was taking forever to regenerate.

Shrugging, Elfman jumped through the hole and began to attack Jirobo, causing his earth dome prison to crumble.

Jirobo sighed. Once again, his earth dome prison had failed him.

It looked like he was going to have to resort to other tactics.

Immediately, he pulled out a boulder and flung it at Elfman.

Fortunately for Elfman, due to his takeover abilities, he was able to fling it right back at Jirobo.

Jirobo was anything if not persistent, however, and he kept on tossing the boulder at Elfman.

"This is getting nowhere fast..." noted Elfman.

"Yes, I know." nodded Jirobo.

Shrugging, the earth user crumbled the boulder and began to lunge towards Elfman with his bare hands.

Immediately, Elfman found himself being tossed around like a football.

Fortunately, he was able to regain his composure, and began to claw at Jirobo's face.

He then followed by turning his leg into that of a giraffe, sending Jirobo flying quite a distance.

"Ugh..." murmured Jirobo.

"Huh. You aren't so tough!" exclaimed Elfman.

On cue, Jirobo began to activate the first stage of his cursed seal.

"Hmm?" inquired the muscular mage.

He then followed up by tossing sand in Elfman's eyes.

"Agh!" exclaimed Elfman.

Oddly enough, Jirobo did not recall having sand in his arsenal...but considering that he was an earth user, maybe that wasn't so unusual.

Shrugging, he decided not to question something that he liked, and began to pummel Elfman with his fists.

As soon as Jirobo hit him in the face, Elfman suddenly began to hallucinate.

Suddenly, he began to see his sister Lisanna...who he thought had died years ago.

"Lisanna...is that you?" inquired Elfman curiously.

Curious, Elfman ran towards Lisanna...

...only for Jirobo to pick him up and toss him into the floor.

As it turned out, he was simply making him hallucinate.

"Whose not so tough now?" inquired Jirobo.

Elsewhere, Hinata was facing off against Kidomaru.

After realizing that simply tying up Hinata wasn't going to do him any good (since she was essentially a master escape artist at this point), he decided that he should simply try shooting her.

"Let's see how you dance, shall we?" inquired the spiderman.

Immediately, he began to toss kunai at Hinata.

However, Hinata saw the kunai coming, and she immediately began to avoid them.

Curious, Kidomaru dropped a net on Hinata to see if she would have a harder time breaking free.

Unfortunately for the Sound four member, Hinata simply burned through it using her fire magic.

She then began to toss the kunai at Kidomaru, who began experiencing irony as he grunted in pain.

"You clever little kunoichi..." murmured the spiderman.

Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you making so many video game references?" inquired the kunoichi.

"What do you think I play whenever Lord Orochimaru doesn't order me to kill people?" asked Kidomaru.

"I'm starting to see why you're such a violent psychopath..." answered Hinata.

"I may have played a first-person shooter once or twice..." nodded the spider ninja.

Immediately, Kidomaru began to summon spiders to help him defeat Hinata...

...but of course, she simply burned them all to ash using fire.

"Are you done yet? Because I'm going to fight back." answered Hinata.

Immediately, she ran towards Kidomaru and punched him into the face, causing some blood to leak from his mouth.

Suddenly, much to his surprise, Kidomaru transformed into vapor and began to move away from Hinata.

Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth (and considering it to be a new element to the "game"), Kidomaru realized that he could use this new ability of his to keep himself away from Hinata and her fists.

Smiling in satisfaction, Kidomaru activated the first stage of his cursed seal.

"She's as challenging of an opponent as her cousin...I like it..." thought the spider ninja.

Of course, he did not recall her cousin ever killing his spiders with fire...but at least that would make the "game" interesting.

_Meanwhile..._

Unfortunately for Tayuya, Gray was proving himself to be a difficult opponent. She couldn't simply slash him to ribbons with her sword, as he had some weaponry of his own (which were naturally made of ice), and she simply couldn't set him on fire as he countered with his ice abilities.

It was time for her to activate the first stage of her cursed seal...which she did.

After activating the first stage of her cursed seal, Tayuya suddenly felt the urge to stick her sword into the ground...which she did.

Suddenly, her three Doki appeared.

"There you-

HONK!

"-ing are! Do you know how my-

HONK!

"-ing life has been without you! Where the-

HONK!

"have you been?!" screamed Tayuya.

"We're sorry, mistress." answered one of the Doki.

Oddly enough, the kunoichi never recalled her Doki ever talking to her before, but she decided that it did not matter.

For now, she wanted her Doki to pummel every inch of Gray that they could reach.

Immediately, they pulled out their clubs and tried to crush his skull.

"These ogres are strong..." thought Gray. Oddly enough he had gone on a mission to slay some ogres not too long ago.

And to make matters worse, Tayuya did not have to use her flute to control them anymore...she could just command them and they would do whatever they wanted...which in this case was to drain the life from Gray.

Immediately, spectral worms emerged from the Doki's mouths and began to move towards the ice mage.

Frantically, he began to try to dodge the worms.

Tayuya then began to laugh evilly...much to her surprise. Since when was the last time she ever laughed? The only thing she ever seemed to use her mouth for was for using profanity.

_Elsewhere..._

"Sakon thinks that bubble should keep her busy for a while..." answered Sakon.

"Since when did you ever refer to yourself in person, brother?" inquired Ukon.

"I don't know...brother...ever since we used that portal I've been feeling strange..." said the ninja.

"Ukon's been feeling that way too..." answered the older twin.

However, at that very moment, Mirajane broke free from the bubble.

"Sakon should have known that this would not be this easy..." noted Sakon.

"Drip drop. Drip drop." murmured Ukon.

"Huh?" inquired the younger twin.

After breaking free from her water prison, Mirajane then shot a ball of dark energy at the duo, who immediately leapt out of the way.

In retaliation, Sakon and Ukon began to activate the first stage of their cursed seals respectively.

They then followed up by sending a miniature wave towards Mirajane, sending her flying.

"Ugh..." murmured Mirajane.

"Should we try using our parasitic technique?" asked Ukon.

"In a moment...Sakon want to plays with her a bit more first..." answered Sakon.

"Fine, brother." replied Ukon.

"These two are fast..." noted Mirajane.

Immediately, Mirajane began to wonder if it was time for her to use her Satan Soul.

Then again, she usually saved that for emergencies.

Shrugging, she decided to use her Evil Push technique to attack the brothers.

Fortunately for Ukon, he immediately noticed the technique and jumped out of the way. Unfortunately for Sakon, he ended up being hit head-on.

"Agh!" screamed Sakon.

Immediately, Ukon stuffed Sakon inside his body so that he could heal.

Oddly enough, he did not feel fatigued as he usually did whenever he was forced to be the dominant body.

But since that had been a major weakness of the duo that got them pulverized by Kankuro and his puppets up until recently, he decided not to question it.

Immediately, he began to attack Mirajane along with his younger brother. Thanks to his cursed seal, he was attacking her faster than ever.

"I sure hope that my brother and everyone else is doing OK..." thought Mirajane as she continued to fight the duo.

_It looks like Naruto and his friends are battling the Sound Four once again...well, Naruto's not facing them himself...he had to use four Celestial Spirits just to stall them so that he could get backup..._

_I think you can probably guess whose the interdimensional partner for each member of the Sound Four...heh heh._

_In the next chapter, our heroes are going to continue fighting the Sound Four...how will it turn out? Well, you'll see._


	16. Chapter 16: Phantom Lord

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...our heroes are going to wrap up things with the Sound Four...but unfortunately, they're just a sign of what's to come..._

_...yes, you guessed it. Phantom Lord is coming to attack Fairy Tail! It looks like war is upon us..._

**Chapter 16: Phantom Lord**

Waking up from his nap, Naruto noticed that his friends were fighting against the Sound Four.

"It's good to see that they care about my safety..." noted the genin.

Curious, Naruto wondered if he should help them...

However, he realized that he was still exhausted, so he wasn't going to be able to do much. The only thing he could do really was visit Dreamland.

"I am so sleepy..." thought the boy.

Hopefully, his magic reserves would recover soon.

Then again, maybe he could still use his chakra?

"Hmm..." pondered Naruto.

Curious, he began to see if he could summon some clones to help his friends...

...which he could.

Once again, Naruto began to yawn.

"Go...help my friends. They're in...a pickle." answered the genin.

The clones nodded, and began to search for Naruto's buddies.

Personally, he wondered where everyone else was. What were they doing while he was under attack by the Sound Four?

"I sure hope that they find us soon..." answered Naruto. The more reinforcements he and his friends received, the better.

At that very moment, Erza approached him.

"Ah...Erza...there you are..." murmured Naruto.

"Why are you so tired? It's in the middle of the day." answered Erza curiously.

"I got attacked...by other ninja..." muttered Naruto.

"What? You did? Who were they?" inquired the magic knight.

"They were...the Sound Four...they're a group of evil...zzz..." said Naruto, who suddenly fell asleep.

"Wake up!" demanded Erza as she shook Naruto awake.

"They're evil ninja...that want to capture me...I encountered them...over two and a half years-"

Once again, Naruto fell asleep.

Sighing, Erza woke up the genin once again.

"ago...and now they want to deliver me to Orochimaru..." said the ninja.

"I guess I can't let them get your hands on your then." answered Erza as she pulled out a sword.

"Save my ship..." murmured Naruto as he fell asleep once again.

"He has a ship? Who knew?" inquired Erza as she went to search for the evil ninja.

_Meanwhile..._

Konohamaru was having a pleasant day...even if admittedly his master Naruto wasn't here to teach him any more of his tricks.

So far, he had learned how to use his sexy jitsu...now he could use it to give people nosebleeds.

"Heh heh heh..." thought Konohamaru.

Today was the day he was going to visit his friends so that he could show off his new technique...

...but on the way there, he had a chance encounter with a group of school bullies.

"Can I help you?" asked Konohamaru.

Immediately, their leader demanded that he give him some ryo.

"Who are you guys?" inquired the boy.

"We're The Sorority!" exclaimed the leader of the bullies.

"The Sorority? Doesn't that mean a club for women?" asked Konohamaru.

Curiously, despite their name, each member of the Sorority was male.

Immediately, the members of the Sorority began to scratch their heads. They did not understand it either.

Deciding that he would have to answer that question later, the leader of the bullies decided to introduce himself.

"My name is Momoo! Now hand over the ryo!" exclaimed Momoo.

Konohamaru raised an eyebrow. Why did his parents name him Momoo? Were they cows?

Deciding to give in to the bullies' demands, he reached into his pocket...

...only to find that his pockets were empty.

"Uh-oh..." thought Konohamaru.

Unfortunately for the genin, these particular bullies happened to have graduated from the ninja academy...so he did not have a reliable jutsu to defend himself.

Immediately, the bullies began to punch and kick Konohamaru.

"Come back tomorrow with some ryo or we'll beat you even harder!" screamed Momoo.

The bullies immediately left Konohamaru to lick his wounds.

The ninja-in-training sighed. It looked like the bullies wanted to extort ryo out of him.

He was going to have to go fetch his piggy bank.

"What exactly is their problem?" thought Konohamaru as he went back home.

Hopefully his bruises would heal quickly.

_Meanwhile..._

Jirobo and Elfman were both trying to pin each other to the ground. At this point, their battle had become an enormous wrestling match.

Suddenly, Jirobo's stomach began to grumble.

"Do you need something to eat?" inquired Elfman.

"I'm always hungry...that's why I drain the chakra from others..." answered the strong teenage boy.

"Are you now?" asked the S-Class mage.

"I want something to eat..." complained Jirobo.

Immediately, Jirobo noticed that there was a sandwich on a nearby table, and began to consume it.

"Bon appetite." murmured the teenage boy.

Once again, he realized that he had used French.

"Did I take a French class and not remember it?" inquired Jirobo.

However, as he quickly discovered, that sandwich belonged to Elfman.

"That's my sandwich!" bellowed Elfman.

Incidentally, he had left it on the table when the Sound Four attacked.

Jirobo simply laughed.

"So what? Finder's keepers!" exclaimed Jirobo.

This infuriated Elfman, who began to pummel Jirobo into the ground, giving him several bruises.

He then followed up by clawing him in the face.

Realizing his mistake...and getting desperate, Jirobo activated the second stage of his cursed seal. His skin immediately turned maroon, and oddly enough he happened to grow some hair.

Once again, the two began to wrestle each other...

...but at that very moment, Jirobo remembered that he now had an earth golem on his side.

"I'll just smash him into the ground and watch...that'll be satisfying." murmured Jirobo.

Pressing his hand on the ground, he immediately summoned the earth golem.

"There we go...smash him to bits!" bellowed Jirobo.

Immediately, the earth golem began to attack.

"That is one big golem..." thought Elfman. Oddly enough, despite his many missions, he had not actually fought a golem that big before.

Apparently there was a first time for everything.

Immediately, Elfman began to attack the earth golem with everything he had.

However, Jirobo retaliated by using his new hallucinatory powers to once again distract Elfman.

"Huh?" inquired the S-Class mage. Wasn't his sister Mirajane fighting someone else? She was standing right in front of him.

Unfortunately, this gave the stone golem the opportunity to grab Elfman, who began to squeeze the life out of him.

"Gah!" screamed the muscular man.

Jirobo began to laugh.

"Not so mighty now, are you? Au revoir!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Once again, Jirobo found himself speaking French...what exactly was his nationality anyway? He wasn't quite sure.

Was this the end for Elfman? He had to admit, he had been working for Fairy Tail for years. It was only a matter of time before he would get his own tombstone just like Mavis Vermillion.

Should he tell Mirajane that he loves her? Then again, she was fighting against the Sound Four herself as he pondered.

_Meanwhile..._

Unfortunately for Hinata, whenever she got too close to Kidomaru, he simply used his vapor ability to keep away from her.

She was getting sick of it.

And to make matters worse, Kidomaru was starting to shoot arrows at her. Apparently, kunai and spiders weren't enough for him anymore.

"I've got to come up with a different strategy..." thought Hinata.

Curious, Kurenai had taught her how to use a camouflage jutsu for spy missions not too long ago...maybe she could try using that to hide from Kidomaru?

"Maybe I could try a sneak attack..." said the kunoichi.

Immediately, she used her camouflage jutsu to make herself disappear.

Kidomaru raised an eyebrow. Where did she go?

Did she chicken out when she realized how strong he was?

"Well, that was a disappointment. Oh well, I'll just resume my hunt for Naruto and-"

Suddenly, Kidomaru screamed in pain. Hinata had stabbed him in the back with a kunai.

"Just for the record...I don't usually fight like this." answered the kunoichi.

Strangely enough, this reminded the teenage boy of a first-person shooter that he played. What exactly was the name of it?

Once again, Kidomaru used his vapor ability to escape from Hinata.

This time, he realized that he was in danger of losing horribly once again.

On the other hand, he was happy that Hinata was proving to be such a challenge. To be honest, he found easy battles to be boring.

Immediately, Kidomaru activated the second stage of his cursed seal, causing his skin to turn deep red, his hair to turn white, and for a third eye to sprout on his head.

To help him defeat Hinata, Kidomaru decided to summon a giant spider.

"Say hello to my little friend!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Immediately, he summoned Kyodaigumo and began to ride on her back.

"Little? She seems rather big to me..." answered Hinata.

"Don't be so literal-minded..." said Kidomaru.

Immediately, Kidomaru opened Kyodaigumo's egg sac to rain spiders on Hinata.

"This is really disturbing..." thought the kunoichi.

And to make matters worse, each of the spiders were trying to blanket her in webbing.

"I hope that I'll be able to sleep tonight..." said Hinata.

Thankfully, none of the spiders could get too close to her without getting burned to ash, thanks to her fire aura.

"Phew!" exclaimed Hinata.

However, Kyodaigumo wasn't going to give up, and she realized that her fire aura wasn't going to last forever.

"Maybe I should attack the spider so that she can't lay any more offspring?" inquired the kunoichi curiously.

It seemed as good of a plan as any.

Immediately, Hinata began to burn through Kyodaigumo's web with her fire abilities, causing Kidomaru (along with the giant spider) to begin to fall.

Fortunately for Kidomaru, he did not damage any of his internal organs this time.

However, this left him vulnerable to another assault from Hinata, who was tossing kunai at him hoping one of them would hit him in the face.

In fact, two of them managed to hit him in his arms.

Suddenly, Kidomaru used some wind magic to blow Hinata away.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"I don't know how I managed to do that...but that's better! Now I can try attacking from long-range again..." murmured the spider man.

Immediately, Kyodaigumo crawled away, allowing Kidomaru to toss kunai at Hinata made from his sticky webbing.

Unfortunately for Hinata, Kidomaru was using his new wind abilities to keep her at a distance.

"I've got...to keep running...towards him." murmured Hinata as she began to chase after Kidomaru.

Suddenly, one of the kunai hit her in the shoulder.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Unfortunately, her Byakugan was not invincible...and she suffered from the same weakness that her cousin did.

At that very moment, Kidomaru remembered where the weak spot of the Byakugan was.

Immediately, he began to prepare a bow and arrow so that he could hit Hinata in that said weak spot.

"Game over..." murmured Kidomaru as he readied his makeshift weapon.

_Meanwhile..._

As it turned out, Gray was still occupied trying to avoid being smashed by Tayuya's Doki.

Speaking of which, she had tried to use blue fire on Gray...but since he was resistant to the cold this didn't hurt him much.

So, she decided to keep trying to grind his bones into dust.

But as it turned out, Gray decided that he needed to fight back against the Doki.

Immediately, he summoned some ice weapons and used them to attack the trio.

"Hmm?" inquired Tayuya.

Realizing that she was in danger, she immediately used the Doki to defend herself from Gray.

Unfortunately for Tayuya, Gray used his ice magic to freeze the Doki solid.

Spitting on the ground in anger, Tayuya was then forced to dismiss the Diki.

"Well, then, I guess it's just you and I..." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, she activated the second stage of her cursed seal, shredding her hat in the process.

"Maybe I should take that off before I activate the second stage of my cursed seal..." questioned Tayuya.

Immediately, several horns appeared on Tayuya's head, her hair turned pink, and her skin turned brown.

Unfortunately for Tayuya, she no longer had a flute to use genjutsu on Gray.

"How am I going to..." thought the kunoichi.

Suddenly, she had the particular urge to begin to sing.

Shrugging, she began to do so. Hopefully Gray was sensitive to sound.

Immediately, he began to wonder what was going on...

...when suddenly he found himself unable to move.

"What-what's going on?" inquired the ice mage.

Unfortunately for Gray, he had been caught by Tayuya's genjutsu. Immediately, he began to hallucinate that he had been chained up and that his arms were melting.

"Not my arms! I need those to cast magic with..." murmured Gray.

"Huh...I guess I don't actually have to use that flute to use my genjutsu anymore..." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, she pulled out her sword so that she could cut off Gray's head.

As she approached Gray, she began to giggle.

"Why am I laughing? Again, I don't ever recall laughing whenever I was in battle..." murmured Tayuya.

Things did not look good for a certain ice mage.

_Meanwhile..._

Realizing what a difficult opponent Mirajane was (due to being a S-Class Mage and all), Sakon and Ukon realized that they were going to have to use the second stage of their cursed seals if they wanted to defeat her.

Immediately, they began to do so.

Oddly enough, their cursed seal forms looked almost exactly alike...both of them had horns on their foreheads and their skin turned red. However, Sakon had body armor on his left arm while Ukon had body armor on his right arm.

Realizing that her opponents were faster and more dangerous than ever, Mirajane began to charge up another darkness attack...

...only for Sakon and Ukon to summon a Rashomon to defend themselves from it.

Fortunately for Mirajane, she managed to dent the menacing gate due to the power of her magical attack.

Unfortunately for the S-Class Mage, the Rashomon could fight back by shooting a giant swarm of blades.

Frantically, she began to avoid them...which thankfully she did.

"That was one giant gate..." murmured Mirajane.

Suddenly, Sakon grabbed her so that she couldn't move.

"What are you-"

As it turned out, Sakon was restraining Mirajane for what was coming next.

Immediately, Ukon began to enter the S-Class Mage's body.

"This is wrong on so many levels..." murmured Mirajane.

"Did you think that we were limited to each other's bodies?" inquired Ukon curiously as he began to enter.

All of a sudden, Mirajane was starting to feel rather ill.

"Ugh..." murmured the S-Class mage. Apparently, Ukon was slowly killing her by destroying her body's cells.

And to make matters worse, Sakon wasn't going to let her attack her own body so that Ukon could continue his dirty work interrupted.

"What am I going to do?" thought Mirajane as she began to cough.

Immediately, Sakon began to smile.

It looked like he and his brother were going to win today.

_Meanwhile..._

"Give it up! It's over!" bellowed Jirobo.

At this point, Elfman was starting to feel rather weak. The stone golem was literally draining the energy out of him.

However, after seeing the illusionary copy he had made of her sister...he remembered what he was fighting for.

Suddenly, he began to transform.

"Huh?" inquired Jirobo.

At that very moment, he turned into a monster.

"What the-" murmured the earth ninja.

Suddenly, Elfman broke free of the stone golem's grip, and began pummeling it into the ground. Immediately, the golem crumbled, and he was free to retaliate.

He punched Jirobo and sent him flying.

"Ugh..." murmured the chubby ninja.

Elfman then got ready to punch him...which he did.

"Wait, no! Please don't...oh wait, you already did it." said Jirobo.

Immediately, he passed out, reverting back to his normal form in the process.

Elfman reverted back to his normal form as well...he was feeling rather exhausted, and the fight had taken a lot out of him.

Using his beast soul spell wasn't without its drawbacks, it seemed.

Fortunately, one of Naruto's clones dragged him towards the infirmary so that he could get some rest.

_Meanwhile..._

As Kidomaru readied his arrow, he suddenly began to cry.

"Darn it! My eyes..." murmured the spider ninja. Was he having some sort of allergic reaction?

Unfortunately for Kidomaru, due to his crying fit, his aim was off, and he did not Hinata on the back of her head.

However, he did manage to hit one of her arteries...all of a sudden, Hinata began to feel woozy.

"This is going to clot...right?" inquired the kunoichi.

Suddenly, Hinata noticed that Kidomaru had attached the bow and arrow directly to his body using a string.

"Well, he didn't think that through too well." noted Hinata.

Immediately, she grabbed onto the string and began to pull Kidomaru towards him.

"Oh...no..." murmured the spider mage as he was pulled towards Hinata.

Kyodaigumo attempted to defend her master...but unfortunately, Hinata tossed a fireball at her and she was reduced to ash.

"Maybe I should become an exterminator...then again, Shino wouldn't approve of that." thought the kunoichi.

She then finished Kidomaru off by punching him in the face.

"Why do I...keep getting pushed like this?" inquired Kidomaru as he passed out.

He immediately reverted back to his original form.

Hinata let out a sigh of relief.

However, there was still the matter of her punctured artery.

"Oh that's right...I feel faint..." murmured Hinata.

Immediately, she began to pass out.

Thankfully, a friendly Naruto clone was there to take her to the infirmary, so she wasn't going to bleed too much.

Hopefully Neji would be proud of her.

_Meanwhile..._

Happy that her genjutsu had worked (and that she didn't need a flute to use it anymore), Tayuya got ready to stab Gray in the heart...

...when suddenly she noticed that he had taken his clothes off and was now in his boxers.

"What the-

HONK!

"Where are your clothes?" screamed Tayuya.

"I may have taken them off..." answered Gray.

Somehow, he had managed to take his clothes off even when Tayuya's genjutsu had paralyzed him.

It was one of the mysteries of the magical world.

Immediately, Tayuya kicked Gray in the face.

"Get away from me, you pervert!" screamed the kunoichi.

Unfortunately, this had the unintended side effect of breaking Gray free of the jutsu.

He proceeded to freeze Tayuya solid using his ice magic.

"Son of a-" murmured the kunoichi as she was frozen.

He then proceeded to shatter the ice violently, knocking Tayuya unconscious.

"What a foulmouth..." murmured Gray.

Suddenly, one of Naruto's clones paid him a visit.

"Can I help you?" asked Gray.

Immediately, the clone asked him if he wanted to visit the infirmary.

"But I'm not really all that hurt..." answered the ice mage.

The clone told them that they had free ice cream at the Fairy Tail hospital.

"I guess I'll be heading there then..." said Gray.

The Naruto clone immediately escorted him to the infirmary.

_Meanwhile..._

At this point, Mirajane was about to vomit. Ukon was wreaking havoc inside her body as we speak. Not even her precious antibodies could save her now.

"I haven't been this sick since I saw our guildmaster in his boxers..." murmured the S-Class mage.

Immediately, Sakon began to laugh.

However, at that very moment, Mirajane began to feel something other than Ukon inside of her.

"Hmm?" inquired Mirajane.

As it turned out, her demon soul was finally starting to activate.

"Is it finally the day?" asked the S-Class Mage.

As it turned out, yes it was.

Immediately, Mirajane began to transform into a giant demon.

"What the-" murmured Sakon.

Which was then followed by Ukon being expelled from her body.

Feeling rather...frightened, he retreated inside his brother.

Sakon then went to hide behind the Rashomon gate so that he didn't die a horrible death.

Unfortunately for Sakon and Ukon, Mirajane was now able to punch through the Rashomon gate with ease.

She then followed by lifting the duo by their heads...

...and then smashing their heads together.

"Why do we..." said Sakon.

"...keep losing to such trash?" murmured Ukon.

Immediately, Sakon and Ukon both passed out, leaving Mirajane the victor.

Oddly enough, she passed out shortly afterwards as she reverted to her normal state. Much like her brother, using her Satan Soul really took the wind out of her.

Maybe when she got stronger she would be able to use the Satan Soul without getting so exhausted?

Then again, using a new ability took some time to get used to.

Fortunately, a friendly Naruto clone took Mirajane to the infirmary.

_A few minutes later..._

"So, did we all win?" inquired Mirajane curiously.

"I believe so, yeah..." nodded Gray.

"Good...what are we going to do about the Sound Four?" inquired Hinata.

"I think Erza locked them all away...that way we can have somebody sentence them to jail..." said Elfman.

"That's a relief..." murmured the kunoichi.

Sure enough, Erza arrived a few minutes later.

"Did you send them to where they belong?" inquired Mirajane.

"Yes...they're in our dungeon as we speak." answered the knight in shining armor.

"We have a dungeon?" asked Gray.

"Yes...we just got one last week...oddly enough." explained Erza.

"Interesting..." answered the ice mage.

"Be a good boy or we'll have to put you in there, OK?" inquired the knight in shining armor.

"OK..." answered Gray. Why was Erza always so strict?

At that very moment, Naruto came in...he was yawning.

"Are you guys OK? I had my clones take you here so that you could get some rest...it's a good thing we've got healing mages, huh?" inquired Naruto.

"Yeah...after that arrow hit my artery I felt rather...faint." answered Hinata.

Thankfully, her injury had not been life-threatening, and she did have to go to the emergency room.

Nonetheless, she had lost a significant amount of blood, so the doctor said that she should stay a while.

Besides, they had cookies.

"Delicious..." murmured Hinata as she ate a sugar cookie.

As for Gray, he had a headache due to Tayuya's genjutsu.

"Ugh..." murmured the ice mage.

Fortunately, he was able to make his own ice pack so that he could soothe his head.

Elfman and Mirajane were both breathing heavily after using their transformation techniques. They were going to need some bed rest.

Thankfully, the doctor was expecting a full recovery.

_Meanwhile..._

"You four are the biggest juvenile delinquents I have met in my entire life! First you wreck my guild hall...then you go and attack four of my mages! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" bellowed Makarov.

The Sound Four began to sigh.

"You're going away for a long time...I can promise you that!" exclaimed the guild master.

The Sound Four screamed "Nooooo!" in unison. But it was already too late for them.

However, at that very moment, Cana paid Makarov a visit. She was drinking rather heavily.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Makarov.

"It was Phantom Lord...they attacked Team Shadow Gear!" exclaimed Cana.

"What?!" bellowed the guildmaster.

Curious, Makarov decided to investigate.

Sure enough, Team Shadow Gear had a chance encounter with Phantom Lord...and by the looks of it, they had lost horribly against them.

The trio had been strapped to a tree, and were hanging limply.

"How terrible..." murmured the guildmaster.

"Ugh..." muttered Levy.

Curious, Makarov noticed that there was a letter attached to the tree.

"This is your final warning. Hand over Lucy Heartfilia or we shall destroy everything you hold dear." said the letter.

"Not good..." murmured the guildmaster.

Apparently, they were going to have to prepare for war.

Immediately, he had Cana take the trio to the infirmary...where oddly enough they happened to encounter the foursome that had battled the Sound Four.

"Why are we getting beat up so much?" inquired Mirajane.

"I don't know, sister..." answered Elfman.

Fortunately, Team Shadow Gear would recover soon...though admittedly they had taken quite a beating.

"Who did this to you?" inquired Hinata.

"It was their dragonslayer...I believe his name was Gajeel." answered Levy.

"He beat us all to a pulp..." said Jet.

"That's terrible..." answered the kunoichi.

"He made me vomit my lunch...he punched me in the stomach." spoke Droy.

"How sad." sympathized Hinata.

At that very moment, a nurse came by and told Hinata and Gray that they were free to go.

"Alright then...I'll be seeing you later." said the kunoichi.

"Have fun in the infirmary...they have cake now..." spoke Gray.

Droy began to rub his stomach.

_Meanwhile..._

"Did you take down Team Shadow Gear?" inquired Master Jose.

"Yes, I did...I hung them up as a preview of what's to come...heh heh." answered Gajeel.

"Did you wreck their guild hall?" asked the shadow mage.

"Somebody already beat me to that, actually...it was kind of awkward when I got there." said the iron dragonslayer.

"You think it was the four you sent to Fairy Tail?" inquired Sue.

"Maybe I should find a way to repay them..." questioned Master Jose.

"Should we attack Fairy Tail now?" asked Boze.

"I've been waiting forever to do so...so yes." answered the leader of Phantom Lord.

At that very moment, the Element 4 came through Master Jose's interdimensional portal.

"So...did you find anything?" inquired Jose.

"No, we did not. Just a strange laboratory..." answered Totomaru.

Aria began to cry.

"I see..." said Master Jose.

Immediately, Jose ordered the Element 4 to attack Fairy Tail...and to gather his mages as well.

It was going to be a big battle...

...and he was going to enjoy every bit of it.

"Why do you want to attack Fairy Tail, anyway? You never mentioned it to us..." answered Sue.

_Master Jose paid his friend Makarov a visit...however, he as quickly discovered, he was intoxicated._

_"Look at all the pink elephants...I love you, pink elephants!" bellowed Makarov._

_"I think you're drunk..." said Jose._

_"Hey there Master Jose! Your guild are losers!" exclaimed the guildmaster._

_"What?!" bellowed Master Jose._

_"My guild will always be better than yours! Live with it!" yelled the old man._

_At that very moment, Master Jose swore that he would one day destroy Fairy Tail._

"That's it? You want to destroy Fairy Tail simply because Makarov insulted you while you were intoxicated?" inquired Sue.

"Yes." nodded Master Jose.

"I'm scared..." murmured Boze.

Immediately, Master Jose began to form a plan of attack.

_Meanwhile..._

"I just felt a chill down my soul..." murmured Makarov.

"You think something bad is going to happen?" inquired Erza.

"I would imagine so, yeah..." answered the mage.

At that very moment, Naruto entered the room.

"Can I help you?" inquired the genin.

"We have a bad situation on our hands." explained Erza.

"Oh..." answered Naruto.

"Phantom Lord has declared war on us..." said Makarov.

"Really? How come?" asked the genin.

"I told Master Jose that my guild was better than his...while I was drunk. I need to stop drinking so much!" bellowed the guildmaster.

"Maybe you should tell that to Cana..." noted Naruto.

"Her liver is invincible! She'll be fine!" answered Makarov.

"We're not going to be fine if Phantom Lord wins..." explained Erza.

"Should I get ready to fight?" asked the genin.

"I would imagine so, yeah..." nodded Erza.

"Alright then...I'll go get a ninja outfit..." said Naruto.

"We have ninja outfits?" inquired the knight.

"Some of us liked to cosplay as ninja...of course, now we literally have ninjas...so we should keep ahold of those costumes." explained Makarov.

"Right, of course." nodded Erza.

At that very moment, Hinata came into the room as well.

"Can I help you?" asked Makarov.

"I used my Byakugan, and discovered that there was a large army heading towards us." explained Hinata.

"What?!" bellowed the guildmaster.

"We've got no time to lose then." answered Erza.

"Thank you for warning us..." said Makarov.

Fortunately for Makarov, he had an alarm installed in case of an emergency situation.

Immediately, he sounded the alarm, and the guild got ready to battle.

"Here they come!" exclaimed Hinata.

Sure enough, Phantom Lord was heading straight towards the Fairy Tail guild base.

Naruto let out a deep breath. This was going to be a long battle...

_Oh dear! It looks like war is upon us! Will Fairy Tail win? Will Phantom Lord get their hands on Lucy? Will the Sound Four get sent to a maximum security prison?_

_Find out in the next chapter of Ninja Tail!_


	17. Chapter 17: Interrogation

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...Phantom Lord is going to invade Fairy Tail! And yes, Fairy Tail is going to fight back. Were you expecting them to just sit there and watch Phantom Lord destroy everything they hold dear? Sorry, but they're more wily than that._

_However, something bad is going to happen to a certain former jinchuriki...can you guess what will happen? You might know already._

**Chapter 17: Interrogation**

Immediately, Fairy Tail got ready to fend off the opposing mages. Thankfully, they had a rather decent formation.

Fortunately for Fairy Tail, they were ready and fired first.

Cana threw some cards at the opposing Phantom Lord mages, causing them to experience some rather nasty cuts.

This was then followed by Happy latching onto a Phantom Lord mage's face...since he was allergic to Exceeds, this did not do him any favors.

He immediately passed out on the spot.

Luckily for him, his allergy was not life-threatening...though he was going to have to visit the hospital nonetheless.

Of course, a certain genin wasn't going to let Fairy Tail crumble after they offered him shelter.

Immediately, he joined the fight...along with about a hundred clones.

The Phantom Lord mages screamed as they were overpowered by the army.

"I guess the best way to deal with a bunch of nameless minions was to create copies of myself..." noted Naruto.

"I have a name! It's Kenny!" bellowed one of the mages.

"Well, at least one of you wants to be your own person rather than a member of an evil army that has no real personality whatsoever..." said Naruto.

Immediately, Kenny decided that he wanted to start a new life.

"Anyone else want to tell me your name?" inquired the genin.

"No, we're good." answered another Phantom Lord mage.

"OK then..." said Naruto as he began to summon some celestial spirits.

Unfortunately for Naruto (and by extension, the rest of Fairy Tail), the Phantom Lord mages started to summon some helpers of their own.

"Uh-oh...it looks like these mages have friends...let's see now, we've got an ogre, a troll, an imp, and a gargoyle..." murmured Naruto.

Immediately, they began to attack Naruto's celestial spirits.

Curious, Naruto decided to summon Aquarius to see if she wanted to help him...which she did not.

"Get lost! I've got a date with Scorpius!" exclaimed Aquarius.

"But you already dated him last week..." complained Naruto.

"I'm doing it again this week! Now scram!" bellowed Aquarius as she disappeared into a burst of blue energy.

"Aww!" complained Naruto.

Oddly enough, he heard that he needed a body of water in order to summon Aquarius...yet he did not need to do so in order to flood the goblin village.

Maybe because he had chakra as well as magic this wasn't necessary for him?

"I guess I'm on my own then." said the genin.

"What makes you say that?" inquired Hinata.

Immediately, Hinata entered the battlefield, much to Naruto's pleasant surprise.

"Hey there Hinata...I thought you were recuperating at the hospital after your battle iwth Kidomaru?" inquired Naruto.

Hinata revealed the bandage on her leg.

"So, you're going to be OK then?" asked the genin.

"Yes, I am. The doctor told me that I should be fine as long as I don't get too careless...and I don't run too fast." answered Hinata.

Sure enough, Gray arrived on the scene as well. Apparently, he wanted to join in the action as well.

Immediately, he began to create some ice weapons.

"Are Elfman and Mirajane still recovering?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes, they are." nodded the ice mage.

"That's too bad, I was looking forward to working for them...they helped me take on the Sound Four..." answered the genin.

"We'll just have to fight twice as hard for both of them." nodded Gray.

"Right, of course." answered Hinata.

_Meanwhile..._

"What's going on out there?" inquired Elfman.

"It seems that there's a war going on." answered Mirajane.

"Should we go get military outfits?" asked the S-class mage curiously.

"We're drained of magic, remember? We're going to need some time to recover." answered Mirajane.

"How could I have forgotten about that?" inquired Elfman.

"I sure hope that they can handle things without us." noted the S-class mage.

"Right, of course...it's a shame, I figured that together we could punish them." nodded Elfman.

"Yes..." said Mirajane.

"Here's hoping that Fairy Tail can survive this..." spoke the S-Class mage.

"You'd be surprised what we've managed to survive..." answered the darkness magic user.

"Like the time where we fell into a volcano?" asked Elfman.

"Yes...we survived without even a first-degree burn...we were the luckiest mages in the world." answered Mirajane.

"I know..." nodded the beast user. The Grim Reaper must be pretty mad at them for cheating him like that.

_Back at the battlefield..._

"Foolish girl! You cannot defeat me! Every time you hit me, I just regenerate!" bellowed the troll.

"Do you now?" asked Hinata.

"Unless you happen to have fire or acid, you're done for!" exclaimed the troll.

Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"You do realize I'm a fire dragonslayer, right?" asked the kunoichi.

The troll sweatdropped.

"Can I surrender?" asked the troll.

"Sure." nodded Hinata.

"I am not worthy! I am not worthy!" bellowed the troll.

"Go easy on yourself." answered the kunoichi.

Meanwhile, Cana was challenging an ogre to a drinking contest.

"You cannot defeats me! My liver is giant!" bellowed the ogre.

However, Cana quickly noticed that the ogre was already rather tipsy...while she hardly felt anything at all.

"He's not as tough as he says he is." noted the mage.

The ogre and Cana kept on drinking...

...and eventually...

...the ogre collapsed.

"Wow...I actually defeated an ogre in a drinking contest...my guildmates will be so proud." answered Cana.

Meanwhile, Gray was dealing with the imp...who wouldn't hold still.

"C'mon! Hold still already!" bellowed the ice mage.

"Nah nah!" exclaimed the imp.

"Sheesh...even in their infancy demons are mischevious...thank goodness it's not an adult though." noted the ice mage.

Then again, imps tended to be rather annoying. Last week he had found that one of them had stolen his shirt and pants...not that he really cared.

Suddenly, Gray remembered that he could use ice magic to freeze the imp.

"Right...why did I forget about my powers?" questioned the ice mage.

Immediately, he froze the imp solid.

"I'm a popsicle!" screamed the imp in his icy prison.

"Well, that should keep you busy...at least until the ice thaws out." answered Gray.

Naruto was dealing with the gargoyle, who unfortunately was pretty fast.

Once again, Naruto found himself rummaging in his purse...er, summoner bag.

"Let's see what I've got..." said the genin.

Curious, Naruto noticed the key in his possession happened to have a lion's head on it.

"How many keys does Lucy have?" inquired the genin.

He immediately used it to summon Loke.

"Huh?" asked Naruto curiously. He could have sworn that he had seen him in the guild hall before.

"I thought you were a Fairy Tail mage...not a Celestial Spirit." questioned the genin curiously.

"I'm actually both." answered Loke.

"Alright...can you give me a hand? Aquarius is leaving me to die out here..." inquired Naruto.

"Yes." nodded Loke.

"Thank you." answered the genin.

Immediately, Loke used a light attack on the gargoyle, causing it to turn into...stone.

"I guess they don't like light very much." answered Naruto.

"Wasn't it daytime?" asked Loke.

Naruto shrugged.

"Let me know if you need any more help." answered the Celestial Spirit as he disappeared into yellow light.

"Thanks." answered the genin.

Immediately, Naruto resumed his fight against the Phantom Lord mages.

_Meanwhile..._

The police chief of Elm Town was investigating something rather troubling. As of late, there had been a number of mysterious disappearances.

According to what the locals had been telling him, people had been found gruesomely murdered. By the looks of it, it was the work of a wizard.

Curious, he wondered if he should go to Fairy Tail and give them a mission request...but he heard that they were at war against Phantom Lord at the moment, so they wouldn't be able to help him.

He began to wonder who was doing this. It had been ages since Elm Town had been visited by a serial killer.

And even then, he had been arrested rather quickly...he didn't hide his tracks too well.

He had tried sending some police officers to search for the suspect...but they hadn't returned.

What was going on? Clearly something bad was happening.

And to make matters worse, there weren't any patterns in the killings, so he was having a hard time defending the civilians. Men, women, children...it didn't matter to this mysterious murderer.

He was starting to wonder if they wanted to kill every single citizen in town.

He could only hope that he was wrong. Having somebody disturb the peace like this was the last thing he wanted as a police officer.

"What has gotten into this town these days? It used to be so peaceful..." murmured the police chief.

Then again, he had heard that all good things must come to an end.

"I sure hope that my boys can catch this criminal and bring them to justice...they've got a lot to answer for." answered the chief.

Then again, he got the feeling that his forces weren't going to be a match for the mage. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world of magic was actually born with magic.

In the meantime, he was going to drink some coffee. That usually took his mind off things...

...but not today.

_Back to Fairy Tail..._

Thanks to his chakra and his Celestial Spirits, Naruto was cutting through the Phantom Lord mages like butter.

"This is almost too easy..." thought the genin.

Suddenly, he noticed that he had wandered too far and had gotten himself separated from his teammates.

"I might want to head back..." answered Naruto.

At that very moment, Juvia and Monsieur Sol began to approach him, causing the genin to raise an eyebrow.

"Can I help you two?" inquired the genin.

"We're looking for a girl by the name of Lucy Heartfilia...have you seen her? Drip drop, drip drop." asked Juvia.

"I have to admit, she is quite ze fraulein..." murmured Monsieur Sol.

"She's not even your age!" bellowed the water mage.

"Sorry!" apologized the French mage.

"Anyways...where were we? Do you know where she is? We're on a mission to bring her back to her father..." said Juvia.

"Her father? Why would she want to leave him? I never even got to know mine..." answered Naruto.

"Isn't zat sad..." answered Monsieur Sol.

"Do you know where she is?" asked Juvia.

"As a matter of fact, I do." nodded Naruto.

"Is there anything ve can do to make you give up her location?" inquired the earth mage.

"Well, I suppose I might give up her location if I was being tortured horribly." answered Naruto.

Juvia and Monsieur Sol looked at each other in the face.

_A few minutes later..._

"I walked right into this, didn't I?" thought Naruto.

As it turned out, he had been imprisoned inside a bubble by Juvia.

"Let me out of here!" bellowed the genin.

"Zis vas a stroke of luck! Ve shall get ze fraulein in no time!" exclaimed Monsieur Sol.

"We still need to take him to our base." answered Juvia.

"Shouldn't ze lack of oxygen inside ze bubble affect him by now?" inquired the earth mage.

On cue, Naruto suddenly passed out.

"Huh. He actually passed out right after you said that." answered Juvia.

Immediately, Juvia released Naruto from his bubble prison and began to lift him on her back so that he could breathe.

"Let's get going, shall we? Drip drop, drip drop." said the water mage.

"Right, but of course." nodded Monsieur Sol.

Immediately, the two mages began to take Naruto to their guildmaster.

_At the Fairy Tail prison..._

"I want food..." complained Jirobo.

"I want to play a game..." whined Kidomaru.

"I want my hat back..." pouted Tayuya.

"I want to get out of here..." moped Sakon.

"I just want to sleep..." said Ukon.

Suffice to say, none of the Sound Four were cut out for juvenile hall. In fact, they dreaded the very thought of it.

On the other hand, they would be receiving medical treatment that would prevent them from being such psychopaths, so at least that was something.

Nonetheless, they wanted to break free.

However, at that very moment, something unexpected happened.

As it turned out, Phantom Lord had decided to use a catapult to attack Fairy Tail.

Fortunately for Fairy Tail, they ran out of ammunition rather quickly.

Unfortunately for Fairy Tail...this allowed the Sound Four to escape.

"We're free!" cheered Kidomaru.

"Finally! This took forever!" bellowed Tayuya.

"We were only here for a few hours, actually." answered Sakon.

"Whatever!" exclaimed Tayuya.

"Can we go get something to eat now? I'm starving!" inquired Jirobo.

"Fine..." answered the musical assassin.

Immediately, the four (or five) of them left to find the nearest McDonalds...if they didn't like his prices, they could just stab him to death with a kunai.

_About half an hour later..._

Hinata was feeling rather satisfied. Thankfully, the Phantom Lord's attack on Fairy Tail had failed, and they weren't in too much worse shape than before.

It had been a rather long battle, but they managed to prevail in the end. They were going to be throwing a party tonight.

Sure enough, the Phantom Lord recruits were retreating.

At that very moment, Team Shadow Gear paid Hinata a visit.

"Did we miss the battle?" asked Levy.

"Ah, there you are! I thought you were still recovering..." questioned Hinata.

"We managed to recover surprisingly quickly...we've got some decent healers." answered Jet.

"That's a relief..." answered the kunoichi.

"Are they all retreating?" inquired Droy.

"Let me see..." answered Hinata.

Immediately, she used her Byakugan to check her surroundings.

"Let's see now...the Phantom Lord mages are retreating...the Fairy Tail medics are attending the wounded...there's not a cloud in the sky...the birds are singing...the squirrels are eating acorns...Naruto's being kidnapped...the Sound Four are escaping from prison...Gray's running around in his underpants...Naruto's being kidnapped?! The Sound Four are escaping from prison?! Gray's running around in his underpants?! He really needs to put some clothes on." said Hinata.

Immediately, she decided that she needed to tell the guildmaster of all these things.

Thankfully, he was nearby along with Erza.

"Ha! That'll teach them to invade our guild!" bellowed Makarov.

"Guildmaster! I need to talk to you!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Yes? What's the matter?" inquired the guildmaster.

"Naruto's been abducted!" screamed the kunoichi.

"What?!" exclaimed Erza.

"The Sound Four are escaping from prison!" bellowed Hinata.

"Darn it! I was hoping that I could lock them away...but I was wrong." answered Makarov.

"Gray's running around in his underpants!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Anything else?" asked Erza.

"I think that's all to report. Other than that, everything is fine." answered Hinata.

At that very moment, Gray arrived. Apparently he was doing some sort of victory dance.

"We did it! We are the champions!" bellowed the ice mage.

"Can you use your Requip magic to dress him? I can't use my Byakugan if I go blind." asked Hinata.

Erza nodded, and began to use her magic to give Gray some clothes.

However, they weren't what she was expecting.

As it turned out, Gray was now dressed in a shirt saying "Natsu is my boyfriend!" along with a picture of him and Natsu kissing.

Also, there was a picture of an Exceed on his pants, along with a message saying how much he loved them.

"Are you trying to humilate me?!" exclaimed Gray.

"Sorry, I must have gotten distracted." answered the knight in shining armor.

Hinata began to giggle.

Suddenly, she remembered the situation that Naruto was in.

"Is there any way we can rescue him? I don't think Phantom Lord has good intentions." answered Hinata.

"They never do." nodded Makarov.

"I suppose we could gather a rescue team..." said Erza.

"That sounds like a plan..." nodded Hinata.

_Meanwhile..._

Master Jose sighed. Not only had his plan to attack Fairy Tail failed, but he had still no luck in capturing Lucy Heartfilia.

Her father wasn't going to be happy with him.

"What's a man to do?" thought the guildmaster.

Suddenly, Juvia and Monsieur Sol entered his chambers.

"Ve brought you something nice!" exclaimed the French mage.

"Yes? What is it? Is it the girl?" inquired Master Jose.

"Yes and no...we've managed to find someone that knows her whereabouts." answered Juvia.

Immediately, she dropped the unconscious Naruto on the floor.

"Excellent. Take him to the dungeon, will you? We've got work to do." answered the guildmaster.

"Yes, Maitre Jose!" nodded Monsieur Sol.

Immediately, the duo took Naruto to the dungeon so that they could begin the process of interrogating him.

They chained him to the wall by the hands so that he could "hang out" inside the dungeon.

"Is he her brother or something? I thought Lucy was an only child..." thought the dark mage.

_A few minutes later..._

As it turned out, Master Jose had gathered the Element 4 for the process of torturing a certain blonde-haired boy.

"Any suggestions of how we do this?" inquired Master Jose.

"I say we tickle torture him." suggested Aria.

"That's a bit pacifistic for my taste." answered the leader of Phantom Lord.

Aria began to cry.

"Aren't you a big baby." said Master Jose.

"Juvia says we waterboard him." suggested Juvia.

"Again, that's a bit pacifistic for me." stated Master Jose.

"I say ve bury all but his head in an ant hill, and zen cover his head vith honey!" bellowed Monsieur Sol.

"That could kill him." warned the leader of Phantom Lord.

"I say we set him on fire." suggested Totomaru.

"Again, we need him alive." continued Master Jose.

At that very moment, Gajeel came into the room.

"You wanted me for this meeting?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

"We've got someone that can spill the beans to a certain blonde's whereabouts...oddly enough, our interrogatee in question happens to be blonde himself. It's weird." answered Master Jose.

"We're discussing how ve can torture him! I'm so excited!" bellowed Monsieur Sol.

"Isn't it obvious how we should do that?" questioned Gajeel.

"Hmm?" inquired Master Jose.

"It's easy...just beat the stuffing out of him and he'll squeal. Believe me, I've done it before." answered the steel mage.

"Why didn't I think of that?" questioned the leader of Phantom Lord.

Immediately, the Element 4 nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright then...off to the dungeon I go." said Gajeel.

_A few minutes later..._

Naruto woke up rather slowly, to say the very least.

"What's happening? The last thing I remember is being imprisoned inside a bubble..." murmured Naruto.

Curious, he looked up, and discovered his arms had been raised above his head by a set of chains.

"Oh, that's right. I got abducted. Well, at least it wasn't the Akatsuki...otherwise I'll be dead within a few days." answered the genin.

At that very moment, Gajeel and Monsieur Sol entered the room.

"Ah, I see that you're awake. Right then...you know where Lucy is, do you not?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

"I'm not telling you!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I was hoping you would say that." answered Gajeel.

Immediately, he punched Naruto in the face.

"Ouch!" screamed the genin.

Monsieur Sol began to giggle.

"Is he going to interrogate me too?" inquired Naruto.

"No, actually...he just likes watching people suffer. Then again, so do I." answered Gajeel.

"Thank goodness." nodded the genin.

Gajeel then followed by kicking him in the leg.

"Ow!" bellowed the genin.

"Are you going to talk now? I could do this all day...not like I mind." asked the iron dragonslayer.

"Never!" bellowed Naruto.

"Hmm, your will is like iron...you wouldn't happen to be an iron dragonslayer like me, would you?" asked Gajeel.

"No, I happen to be a summoner mage...and a ninja." answered the genin.

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. Didn't Master Jose say that Lucy Heartfilia was a summoner mage? He was starting to wonder if he was Lucy's long-lost brother.

"Alright then, you asked for it." said Gajeel.

Immediately, he began to punch Naruto multiple times in rapid succession.

"Ow! Ouch! Oof! Ow! Eek!" screamed Naruto.

At this point, Monsieur Sol began to roll on the floor laughing.

"Funny...usually whenever I do this to one of my guildmates they're usually resorted to a crying mess...but you still seem to be going strong." answered Gajeel.

"One of my friends treats me like this all the time, actually...she packs a mean punch." explained Naruto.

Oddly enough, Gajeel actually gave Naruto a sympathetic look when he said that.

"I think I'm going to leave you alone...for now. I think our first interrogation was a success." said the iron dragonslayer.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Monsieur Sol stopped laughing.

"Vhat? Can't you at least kick ze boy in ze groin?" inquired Monsieur Sol.

"That's perverted. I'm not taking it that far." answered Gajeel.

"Aww!" complained the earth mage.

Immediately, Gajeel and Monsieur Sol left the dungeon, leaving Naruto alone.

"I'm bored..." murmured Naruto.

Ironically, he was actually starting to wish that Gajeel would come back just so that he could have something to do.

"I hope that my friends come to rescue me..." said the genin.

_Meanwhile..._

Lucy let out a sigh.

"What's the matter?" asked Natsu curiously.

"I think someone's hunting me down, and that I'm going to be in trouble soon." said the summoner mage.

"That's not good..." answered the fire mage.

Oddly enough, Lucy's instinct usually happened to be correct.

Shrugging, she decided to go eat some ramen. Maybe that would make her feel better.

"I sure hope things are going to turn out OK..." answered Lucy.

Curious, she noticed that Choji was eating some ramen right next to her.

"Hey there, Choji! How's Shikamaru doing?" inquired Lucy.

"He's doing fine." answered Choji.

At that very moment, Choji began to choke.

Immediately, Lucy gave Choji the Heimlich manuever.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" bellowed the summoner mage.

"Sorry...you can have my lunch." said Choji.

"Thank you." answered Lucy as she happily devoured the ramen.

Suddenly, her stomach began to rumble.

"Sheesh, I must be pretty hungry." said the genin.

Suddenly, she began to hear a voice in her head.

**"So, you're my jinchuriki now, are you?" **said the mysterious voice.

"Who are you? And why are you speaking in bold? Personally I think you should be speaking like the rest of us...then again, I'm not going to judge you for it." asked Lucy curiously.

**"You should know I am. Everyone in Konoha knows me..." **continued the mysterious voice.

"Sorry, I'm not from Konoha." said the kunoichi.

**"Then allow me to introduce myself...I am Kurama...but most people simply call me the nine-tailed fox. Nobody seems to remember my name these days." **said the nine-tailed fox.

"Pleased to meet you." answered Lucy.

**"You're pleased to meet me?! I nearly destroyed this village!" **exclaimed Kurama.

"I really need to read a history book here..." said the kunoichi.

**"Just to let you know...you should be able to use my chakra to help you win battles...I suggest you do so, because I'm going down with the ship if you get yourself killed. Understood?" **explained the nine-tailed fox.

"Alright then...how much chakra do you have?" inquired Lucy.

**"Enough to destroy an entire village...as you should have figured out by now." **said Kurama.

"Really? That's rather impressive!" exclaimed the genin.

**"Yes, I know. Still, I'm just a cub compared to the Ten-Tailed Beast." **spoke the nine-tailed beast.

"I better stay on the ten-tailed beast's good side then." nodded Lucy.

**"Normally I'd been threatening to kill you by now...but since you have an attractive figure...I'm just going to tell you that I'm going to claw you in the face." **answered Kurama.

"Gee, that's awfully sweet of you." replied the summoner mage sarcastically.

**"Here's hoping that I can finish what I started someday...once I get out of your body." **said the nine-tailed fox.

"Good luck with that. This jinchuriki seal on my midriff should keep you tied up nice and tight." answered Lucy.

**"You can't hold me forever!" **bellowed Kurama.

"Sure I can. If my seal weakens, I can just get someone to strengthen it. And once I succumb to death, you're coming with me!" exclaimed Lucy.

**"You...make a surprisingly good point. I don't remember my last jinchuriki being this smart...he was a ditz, actually." **answered the nine-tailed fox.

"Believe me, I've got a tremendous IQ...I'm starting to wonder why people don't call me a geek." said Lucy.

**"Geek." **murmured the nine-tailed fox.

"Ah, there we go." answered the summoner mage.

**"Don't forget. I know where you live." **warned Kurama.

"Actually, no you don't. I'm not even from this world." answered Lucy.

**"Are you some kind of space alien?!" **screamed Kurama.

"Yes, I'm an alien here and no I am not from outer space. Believe me, I'd freeze to death out in the cosmos." explained Lucy.

**"What a delightful thought." **answered the nine-tailed fox.

"What did I ever do to you anyway? It's not my fault that you got sealed inside me...well, OK, maybe it is but still!" bellowed Lucy.

**"I...honestly don't know the answer to that." **said Kurama.

"Can't we just be friends?" asked the genin.

**"I've never had a friend." **answered the nine-tailed fox.

"How sad." murmured Lucy.

**"Nor would I want one." **said Kurama.

"I still feel sorry for you." answered the summoner mage.

**"I'm going to sleep...don't wake me up or I'll kill you." **said Kurama.

"Won't you die too?" inquired Lucy.

**"Why do I keep forgetting that?" **asked the nine-tailed fox.

"Why is that so hard to remember?" questioned the kunoichi.

Immediately, Kurama went to sleep.

"Have fun dreaming about barbaric slaughter...I guess." answered Lucy.

"Lucy, who are you talking to?" inquired Natsu.

"Oh! Hey there, Natsu! I was just talking to the nine-tailed fox that was living inside me..." said the kunoichi.

"You have a fox living inside you?" asked the fire mage.

"Yes, I do...he said that he wants to destroy the Leaf Village...and that he almost did once before. What a maniac." said Lucy.

Immediately, Natsu began to hide behind a tree.

"Oh dear...I scared you, didn't I?" inquired the summoner mage.

"Yes, you did!" nodded the fire mage.

"Don't worry! I'm sure my jinchuriki seal will keep him busy...I know ninja that I can use to strengthen it if it begins to weaken." said Lucy.

Reluctantly, Natsu left his hiding spot.

"You sure it will hold him?" inquired the fire mage.

"Don't worry, be happy." answered Lucy.

"How do I turn into an Exceed?" asked Natsu.

"I mean the adjective!" exclaimed the summoner mage.

"Oh...um, sure." nodded the fire mage.

Immediately, Natsu decided to head back home so that he could stay as far away from the nine-tailed fox as possible.

"I sure hope that people don't mistreat me because I have a beast inside me...I might turn evil and become a psycho or something. That wouldn't do anyone favors." answered Lucy.

"Funny you should mention that." said Gaara.

"Um, hey there...are you a jinchuriki too?" inquired the summoner mage.

"Yes, I am." nodded the sand ninja.

"I guess we're in the same boat then..." answered Lucy.

"Not exactly...I happen to have a different tailed beast entirely." explained Gaara.

"Interesting..." noted the genin.

"Suffice to say, I went off the deep end...but thankfully somebody put me straight." said the one-tailed jinchuriki.

"Really? Who was it?" inquired Lucy.

"It was Naruto Uzumaki." explained Gaara.

"That was awfully nice of him..." answered the summoner kunoichi.

"Yes...I believe that you're his interdimensional partner, correct?" inquired the sand ninja.

"Yes, I am...I happen to have his nine-tailed fox now...he's not exactly pleasant company." said Lucy.

"Yeah...my tailed beast can be like that too." nodded Gaara.

"Does he ever threaten to kill you?" inquired the genin.

"He's pretty protective of me, actually." said the sand ninja.

"Thank goodness..." answered Lucy.

"Tell Naruto I said hi." said Gaara as he left.

"I'm starting to wonder if my life has been changed forever...then again, maybe it already has." noted Lucy.

_Oh no! Naruto has been kidnapped! What a terrible situation he's in! And Phantom Lord is still hunting down Lucy...are they going to be able to find her?_

_And yes, she will be able to use the nine-tailed chakra to defend herself...which is going to come in handy soon._

_In the next chapter, things are going to go downhill for Fairy Tail...I'm sad to say._

_But on the plus side, Naruto will get rescued! Hooray!_


	18. Chapter 18: The Iron Dragonslayer

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Hinata's coming to the rescue! That's right, since Naruto is Lucy's interdimensional partner and Hinata is Natsu's interdimensional partner...well, I think you can probably see where I'm going for this._

_But of course...if she wants to save Naruto's skin, then she has to defeat Gajeel first. Can she do it?_

**Chapter 18: The Iron Dragonslayer**

"So, what's the plan to rescue Naruto?" inquired Hinata.

"Well, in order to do that...we need to invade their guild base...and then make a clean getaway." explained Levy.

Fortunately for Levy, she had managed to partially recover from her injuries...though she wasn't looking forward to encountering Gajeel again.

"I see..." answered the kunoichi.

"Unfortunately, many of our mages have been wounded by the Phantom Lord attack...I'm still recovering, so I won't be able to go with you. I can give you some advice if you want though." said the leader of Team Shadow Gear.

"What about the Sound Four? They're on the loose again!" exclaimed Hinata.

"We're working on that. One thing at a time, please." said Levy.

"Right, of course." nodded the kunoichi.

"Our guildmaster went to see Master Jose a while ago...says he wants to talk things over with him." explained the interdimensional portal inventor.

"I see...is it just us, then?" inquired Hinata.

"Not necessarily...Happy volunteered to rescue Naruto because he thought he was his buddy..." explained Levy.

"That's awfully sweet of him..." answered the kunoichi.

"And of course, Gray volunteered too...Naruto happened to be his friend...so it makes sense." said Levy.

"Right, of course." nodded Hinata.

At that very moment, Gray entered the room.

"Should we get going?" asked the ice mage curiously.

"I believe so, yes." nodded the fire kunoichi.

"Let's go save Naruto, Phoenix!" exclaimed Gray.

"I'm with you there." nodded Hinata.

Immediately, the trio went to rescue Naruto.

"I sure hope that they can make it..." said the letter mage.

_Meanwhile..._

Tsunade was feeling rather depressed. She had heard about the unfortunate demise of the Yasuragi Clan, and realized who was responsible.

She was also feeling a bit paranoid. She knew that Kenichi never had any real pattern in his murders. As long as they were weak ninja, they were fair game.

She also knew that not even children were safe from his wrath...that innocent boy that had been found outside Konoha was proof of that.

What was she going to do? Granted, since she was one of the three legendary Sannin she might be able to stand up to him...but considering that her people needed her she wasn't sure if she could simply leave.

She also considered the possibility of bringing Jiraiya, but at the same time she was worried what would become of him if he tried challenging Kenichi. Sure, there was the possibility that he would be able to win against him...but what if he lost?

From what she knew about Kenichi (which admittedly was a lot), he usually didn't simply kill his victims and leave it at that. He often murdered his victims very gruesomely. He in particular liked his victims to be devoured by his dragon summon or set on fire by said summon's fire breath. She wasn't really looking forward for Jiraiya to suffer a similar fate.

Nonetheless, she began to wonder what his opinion on the subject was. He was well-aware that there was a mass murderer that had been spotted near Konoha recently, and that any small clan could be next.

She was also polarized about what she should tell the citizens of Konoha. For all they knew, the dragonrider was just a rumor that was invented by someone to scare people. Personally, she wished that was true. It would make an entertaining story admittedly.

If she told the truth to Konoha, they might panic and start a riot. They clearly weren't looking forward to having their clans annihilated...though thankfully Kenichi never showed interest in visiting Konoha.

But if she didn't tell Konoha about him, there was the possibility that Kenichi might decide the Leaf Village was below him and launch an invasion. If that happened, they would be completely caught off-guard, and there would be little that they could do.

Suffice to say, she had some rather difficult decisions to make. Then again, she had to make some difficult decisions before in the past. Being the Hokage wasn't all fun and games contrary to what Naruto and Konohamaru might believe...though admittedly she usually enjoyed her position.

"I'm going to have to think this over." thought Tsunade.

At that very moment, Jiraiya decided to pay her a visit.

"Hello, Jiraiya. How is your day? To be honest, I'm not doing so well at the moment." answered Tsunade.

"Really? Why not?" inquired Jiraiya.

"There's been an attack on a clan that wanted to make an alliance with us...they were all wiped out. No survivors." said the Fifth Hokage.

"That's terrible." sympathized the Toad Sannin.

"Yes, I know." nodded Tsunade.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" inquired Jiraiya.

"Well, I was hoping that you could handle the dragonrider...but I was worried that you wouldn't make it." answered the Fifth Hokage.

"That's awfully sweet of you." nodded the Sannin.

"Anyways...is there a particular reason you're here? Or are you just visiting?" inquired Tsunade.

"I was looking for my apprentice...I wanted to teach him a new technique...but he seems to have vanished from Konoha." said Jiraiya.

"I take it you haven't heard the latest then?" inquired the Fifth Hokage.

"Is he dead?" questioned the Sannin, a tear suddenly leaking from his eye.

"No no no. He's very much alive. However, he's no longer with us." answered Tsunade.

"If he's still alive, then why are you sayin-"

"I don't mean it like that. I mean he's all the way in an alternate world." said the Sannin.

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Jiraiya.

"Yes, I know." nodded Tsunade.

"Is Konoha doing OK without him? I know that he's been doing his best to defend our village..." said the Sannin.

"As a matter of fact, we are. Due to the magic of the interdimensional portal that took him away from us...we now have a teenage ninja on our side that happens to have much of his abliities." answered the Fifth Hokage.

"That's a relief...wait, who is it?" inquired Jiraiya.

"It's a girl by the name of Lucy Heartfilia." explained Tsunade.

Immediately, she handed Jiraiya a picture detailing what he needed to know about Lucy.

"She happens to look a lot like him..." noted Jiraiya.

"Yes, we know." nodded Tsunade.

"I guess I'll just have to teach her that then." said the Sannin.

"Good. She's showing remarkable prowess as a ninja...then again, she has happened to have inherited Naruto's nine-tailed fox." inquired Tsunade.

"Doesn't transferring a tailed beast to someone else kill them?" asked Jiraiya.

"Well, Jiraiya, due to the vitality to Naruto's clan he would in theory be able to survive transferring it to someone else...but due to the interdimensional portal, he was able to do so without causing himself personal harm." explained Tsunade.

"That's a relief..." answered the Toad sannin.

"Just for the record, it was somewhat of an accident, from what we know about the incident." said the Slug Sannin.

"I see..." nodded Jiraiya.

"I hope you have fun training her." answered Tsunade.

"I suppose I will." nodded the Sannin.

Immediately, Jiraiya left to look for Lucy.

"Speaking of which, I wonder if Naruto has a mentor of his own at this alternate world. If I could make it back afterwards, I might want to look into this magical world myself." noted Tsunade.

Hopefully, Kenichi would be on cooldown after his latest attack. Usually, when he successfully wiped out a clan, he would take some time to decide on his next victims.

Then again, he had been getting more aggressive over the past few weeks.

Once again, Tsunade began to ponder what she should do to defend Konoha from him. She got the feeling that Kenichi wasn't going to ignore them forever.

"Hmm..." thought the Sannin.

_Meanwhile..._

The police chief of Elm Town was at a loss to what to do. There had been more and more missing person reports filed...some of which were people that had filed said missing reports.

Already, the people of Elm Town were rioting, and he and his police force were losing control over the situation.

He had to catch this mass murderer soon...or the entire town would be lost.

However, at that very moment, he was paid a visit by the culprit herself.

"Can I help you?" inquired the police chief.

"I admit everything." answered Chiyoye.

"What?!" bellowed the chief, his police cap nearly falling off his head.

"I did it. I killed roughly half of the population in this town." explained the necromancer.

"You're responsible for all this?!" exclaimed the police chief.

"Of course I am! I just admitted it a few minutes ago." answered Chiyoye.

"Why did you do this?!" screamed the chief.

"Mainly for personal pleasure, I suppose." answered the dark mage.

The police chief's face immediately paled.

"You-you're under arrest!" screamed the chief.

Immediately, he stuck handcuffs on Chiyoye's wrists, and took her to a prison cell, where many other prisoners were nearby.

"I'm t-taking you to an asylum!" bellowed the police officer.

"By all means, feel free to do so." answered the necromanceress.

The police chief raised an eyebrow. She didn't seem to making a big deal out of being arrested.

Was she hiding something?

Shrugging, he decided to head back to his office, traumatized that someone would sink this low.

As he left, Chiyoye began to flashback back to the early days of her life.

_"Can we have a talk with you?" asked Chiyoye's kindergarten teacher._

_"Yes, you may." nodded Chiyoye's father._

_"What seems to be the problem?" asked Chiyoye's mother._

_Chiyoye's mother somewhat resembled her...though she happened to have inherited her black hair from her father. She was a blonde herself._

_"It's your daughter...she's been showing a disturbing obsession with death lately...as well as dark magic." explained the kindergarten teacher._

_"That's odd." answered Chiyoye's mother._

_"We also have reason to believe that she's talented with magic...though that's not as big of a concern as what I said earlier." noted Chiyoye's teacher._

_"I see...we'll try to see if we can talk to her about this. Maybe we can put some sense into her." answered Chiyoye's father._

_"Good...to be honest, I was starting to get worried. All of the other children were rather frightened by her...and I believe one of them is hiding from her. I believe that she has somehow wronged him..though he won't tell us exactly what she did." said the teacher._

_"OK. We'll look into this." said Chiyoye's mother._

_"Thank you." nodded Chiyoye's father._

_A few days later, she had decided to visit the local cemetery along with her father and mother...a close friend of the former had died recently, and they wanted to visit his grave._

_However, due to the fact that they had been a bit neglectful, she had wandered off from them._

_Immediately, she noticed that a gravedigger was setting up another grave._

_Suddenly, she accidentally raised the body he was trying to bury to life._

_As it had turned out, she had created a zombie._

_Immediately, the zombie began to tear and devour at the grave digger's flesh, causing him to scream in pain and in horror._

_Rather than scream in horror as well, Chiyoye instead laughed. She found this to be absolutely hilarious._

_Due to the fact that she was still young, she could not animate the zombie for long, and it quickly returned to its grave._

_Nonetheless, she was satisfied with the results. Maybe she could try making the zombie last longer this time?_

_Alternatively, she could try creating multiple zombies._

_However, at that very moment, her parents picked her up. Apparently they had been looking for her._

_They were rather relieved, to say the very least._

_"There you are...why did you wander off?" inquired Chiyoye's father._

_Immediately, Chiyoye's mother began to scream._

_Chiyoye's father noticed what had happened as well, and began to scream as well._

_Shortly afterwards, they covered their child's eyes, and went to the police station to file a murder report._

_Unbeknownst to them, the culprit was right underneath their noses._

"Those were good memories..." thought Chiyoye.

"What are you in for?" asked a fellow prisoner.

Oddly enough, despite the fact that he had not actually been taken to jail yet, he was dressed in black and white stripes.

"Oh, lots of things...like what I'm about to do now." answered the necromanceress.

"What?" inquired the prisoner.

Immediately, Chiyoye placed her hand on the prisoner's forehead.

_Meanwhile..._

Hinata, Gray, and Happy snuck their way towards the Phantom Lord guild, careful to avoid getting spotted.

Thankfully, they had chosen to come during the night so that they wouldn't be spotted easily.

Unfortunately, the Phantom Lord guild happened to have searchlights so that they could catch intruders.

At that very moment, Happy stepped on a searchlight, causing two mages to appear.

"Halt!" bellowed one of the mages.

Thankfully, Gray and Hinata took out the Phantom Lord mages without too much hassle, but Happy still received a lecture nonetheless.

"Happy, you need to be more careful! We can't take the entire guild ourselves!" whispered Hinata.

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Happy.

"Keep your voice down too." murmured Gray.

"Sorry." whispered the Exceed.

Thankfully, their journey to the Phantom Lord guild did not go horribly wrong (aside from the aforementioned incident), and they were able to get there safely.

Unfortunately, there were several Phantom Lord mages standing in front of the door, meaning that they couldn't simply waltz in.

One of them was going to have to stay outside to hold them off while the other two went inside.

Immediately, Gray volunteered for this task.

"You go on ahead! I'll put them on ice!" exclaimed the ice mage.

"Right, of course." nodded Hinata.

Immediately, Gray threw icicles at the Phantom Lord mages to distract them while Hinata used her camouflage jutsu to hide herself while she and Happy went inside.

Of course, Happy was noticed by a few of the Phantom Lord mages...

...but by pretending to be an innocent Exceed, they couldn't resist letting him inside.

"Come on in, kitty! You're welcome here!" exclaimed the Phantom Lord mage.

Happy let out a sigh of relief.

Using her Byakugan, Hinata was able to determine Naruto's exact location.

Sure enough, he was shackled to the wall by his arms, and was looking rather lonely.

"Aww...I'm feeling sorry for him." said the kunoichi.

Immediately, Hinata and Happy went to the dungeon so that they could deprive him of his loneliness...and to free him from the dungeon while he was at it. He didn't belong in there as he was not a criminal.

At least, Hinata hoped not.

_Meanwhile..._

"I'm so lonely here...at this point I'm going to start talking to myself. Oh wait, that's right, I already am. Huh. I must be going insane." noted Naruto.

At that very moment, Gajeel entered the room.

"Oh thank the holy mother of ninja that you're here! I was going mad from isolation!" exclaimed the genin.

"I was only gone for about an hour or two." answered Gajeel.

"Well, it still wasn't fun!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Well, neither will this." said the iron dragonslayer.

Immediately, the genin noticed that Gajeel was holding a whip, and knew what was coming next.

Gajeel yanked on Naruto's shirt, and immediately ripped it off, leaving torn fabric on the dungeon floor.

"Not again!" bellowed the genin.

"This has happened to you before?" inquired Gajeel.

"Well, only once." answered Naruto.

"I see." nodded the iron dragonslayer.

Immediately, Hinata saw Naruto shirtless.

"Must...not...stare...at...Naruto's...perfect...torso..." thought the kunoichi.

Suddenly, Gajeel began to whip Naruto.

"Ow! That stings!" exclaimed the genin.

"Relax, I'm only going to whip you...about a dozen times." answered Gajeel.

"Oh thank you...you are so merciful..." said Naruto.

"You're welcome?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

Immediately, Gajeel began to whip Naruto once again.

"Ouch! That one stung too!" exclaimed the genin.

Gajeel whipped Naruto for the third time.

"Ow! I'm getting burned here!" bellowed Naruto.

Gajeel whipped Naruto a fourth time.

"Huh...I actually enjoyed that one for a second there." answered the genin.

Gajeel sweatdropped.

As soon as Hinata saw Naruto being tortured by Gajeel, she became angry. Very angry indeed.

Suddenly, a ball of fire began to materialize in her hand.

She promptly tossed it on Gajeel, who suddenly dodged.

"Huh? What was that?" inquired Naruto.

"I don't know!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

Immediately, Hinata revealed herself.

"Hinata! You're here to save me...along with your pet Exceed!" cheered Naruto.

"Glad I could help." answered Happy.

Gajeel began to laugh.

"They sent a little girl to fight me? Oh, please! Didn't Team Shadow Gear teach Fairy Tail anything?!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

"I'm not little! I'm sixteen years old here! And it's not going to be long before I'm seventeen!" bellowed Hinata.

"Whatever. I'm afraid if you want to rescue your little boyfriend here, you're going to have to fight me. I for one am looking forward to it." said Gajeel.

"I'm not letting you hurt him! I made a vow not to let him fall into harm's way!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Yeah! Way to tell him, Hinata!" bellowed Naruto.

Immediately, Happy set Naruto free so that he could do whatever he wished.

"Right then...let's get this party started, shall we?" inquired Gajeel.

The iron dragonslayer started the match by trying to punch Hinata in the face.

"Picking on a pretty lady? You should have more chivalry than that." noted Naruto.

"I'm part of a dark guild! Don't expect that from me!" exclaimed Gajeel.

"Fine..." answered the genin.

Hinata of course responded with a punch of her own, though unfortunately Gajeel caught it and began to twist her arm.

"Ow..." murmured the kunoichi. It wasn't very pleasant.

Thankfully, she knew what to do about it.

Suddenly, she set her arm on fire.

"Aargh!" screamed Gajeel, frantically putting his hand away.

"That'll teach you to show respect for women." noted Hinata.

"Hmm...it appears that I'm not the only dragonslayer here. You're a fire dragonslayer, are you not?" inquired Gajeel.

"Yes, I am." answered the kunoichi.

"Did you get trained by another dragonslayer? I have to admit, you seem to be competent enough...though you're still not half the dragonslayer I am." noted the iron dragonslayer.

"No...I only became a fire dragonslayer recently..." explained Hinata.

"I guess you're a fast learner then." said the iron dragonslayer.

"Yes, I am." nodded the kunoichi.

"No matter." answered the iron dragonslayer as he covered himself in steel scales.

Realizing that punching and kicking an opponent that was covered in metal wasn't going to do her much good, Hinata decided that she needed to try to set Gajeel on fire.

Fortunately for the kunoichi, it appeared that fire was effective at piercing his armor.

She then set herself on fire to give herself some armor of her own.

Of course, Gajeel began to fight back by throwing knives at Hinata, hoping that they would pin her to the wall.

But thanks to her Byakugan, she was able to dodge them somewhat easily.

"What's up with your eyes?!" exclaimed Gajeel.

"I'm not just a fire dragonslayer...though admittedly I've had these for far longer than my fire magic." said Hinata.

"What do those eyes even do?!" screamed the iron dragonslayer.

"Oh, I can use them to defend myself from attacks, and see things from far away...that was how I was able to find you in fact." answered Hinata.

"Aren't you lucky...you have a decent sense of eyesight to go with your decent sense of smell." said Gajeel.

"Huh?" inquired the kunoichi.

Curious, Hinata began to sniff her surroundings. Much to her surprise, she found that she could smell everything in the room surprisingly well.

Not surprisingly, Gajeel happened to stink...literally.

"Huh. Now I know how Kiba feels." said Hinata.

"Who's Kiba?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

"Just a friend of mine...he happens to own a dog...kind of like the Exceed I adopted in his owner's absence..." answered the kunoichi.

"I happened to have played football with a puppy yesterday...it was so much fun." answered Gajeel.

"You're terrible." said Hinata.

"Why do you think I'm part of Phantom Lord?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

"That makes so much sense." explained the kunoichi.

Gajeel then followed up by using his iron dragonslayer sword to try to slash Hinata...but her fire aura did its job, and he suffered some burns.

"Why does steel have to be so sensitive to heat?" thought the iron dragonslayer as he retracted his arm.

Suddenly, Happy latched himself onto Gajeel's face and began to claw his face...or the steel covering it rather.

"I'm not letting you hurt my friends! They are awesome...and quite frankly, you're a big stinker." said Happy.

Unfortunately for Happy, he did not last too long against Gajeel. The Phantom Lord mage immediately picked up Happy and began to play a game of basketball with the Exceed as the basketball.

"Ouch! Stop it! Please! You're hurting me!" screamed Happy as Gajeel dribbled him.

"That's kind of the idea." answered the iron dragonslayer.

Immediately, he used his iron dragonslayer magic to create a steel basketball hoop, which he proceed to throw Happy through.

He landed perfectly through the hoop, and hit the ground with a somewhat sickening crunch.

"Mother, is that you?" inquired Happy as he passed out.

"Ha! I'm the next Michael Jordan!" bellowed Gajeel.

"Good grief! First you beat up my best friend, now you beat up my Exceed?!" exclaimed Hinata.

"I just love being bad." answered the iron dragonslayer.

Feeling rather angry, Hinata's fire aura became more intense, and she started throwing some rather large fireballs.

Frantically, Gajeel began to avoid them. Hinata was proving to be a lot stronger than he thought.

Gajeel tried to hit her with his iron dragonslayer club, but once again he suffered some burns.

"Why does she have to be so defensive?" inquired the evil dragonslayer.

"He isn't quite as tough as he looks..." thought Hinata.

Suddenly, Gajeel began to eat some steel on the floor.

"Huh?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Sorry, little girl...but I'm afraid your luck is about to run out. In case you haven't noticed, I'm in my element...which I cannot say the same for you." answered Gajeel.

Curious, Hinata decided to eat one of her fireballs to see if she could replenish her strength...

...only to begin to cough up smoke.

"Ugh..." murmured the kunoichi. This wasn't working at all.

"Didn't you read the memo when you became a dragonslayer? You can't just go and eat some of your own flames! Did you think it would be that easy?" inquired Gajeel.

"I guess not...I might be in trouble here." answered Hinata.

"You sure are." nodded the iron dragonslayer.

Gajeel immediately used his Iron Dragon Roar, sending Hinata flying back quite a distance and knocking her on the floor.

She began to rub her head, which was now aching somewhat. Apparently, her fire aura wasn't going to protect her against everything.

"I suggest that you surrender...if you want, I can make you his cellmate so that you can talk to each other sometime..." said Gajeel.

"But we're not even the same gender!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, Naruto decided that he wanted to help his best friend in the world (worlds?) take down Gajeel.

However, he had a problem...Phantom Lord had taken all of his keys. He couldn't summon a single spirit.

Fortunately, according to the letter he found in his bag detailing the rules of being a summoner mage...he should have them back soon.

It looked like he was simply going to have to sit back and watch Hinata get clobbered.

"What's a boy to do?" inquired the genin.

Fortunately, Phantom Lord was not aware that he had chakra.

"Oh, that's right...I'm not limited to my summoner keys. How could I have forgotten that?" inquired Naruto.

Immediately, he began to charge up a Rasengan, which hit Gajeel right in the stomach.

"Agh!" screamed the iron dragonslayer as he collapsed on the ground.

"Score one for me! Believe it!" cheered Naruto.

However, this had the unfortunate side effect of Gajeel being mad at him.

"I'm going to break you for that, you worthless piece of-"

"Gotta run!" screamed Naruto.

Immediately, the genin began to flee, with both Gajeel and Hinata (literally in her case) in hot pursuit.

He kept running for a while, until he eventually came across a blast furnace...that happened to be in a room full of wood that the former could not eat.

Suddenly, he got an idea. He sat next to the blast furnace and waited for Gajeel and Hinata to show up.

Sure enough, they didn't take too long to appear at all.

"There you are! I guess you decided not to prolong the inevitable..." answered the iron dragonslayer.

"Actually, I've got a surprise for you." said Naruto.

"Huh?" inquired Gajeel.

At that very moment, Hinata entered the room along with her opponent.

"Naruto, why did you take Gajeel h-"

Suddenly, she noticed the blast furnace in the room, and she realized what Naruto was planning.

"Stand back, Naruto!" warned Hinata.

Naruto nodded, and stood as far away from the blast furnace as possible.

"What are y-"

Suddenly, Hinata began to eat as much fire from the blast furnace that she could...which was quite a bit indeed.

Immediately, her fire aura grew massive.

Getting desperate, Gajeel decided to eat some of the metal on the floor...

...only to realize that there was no metal.

"Mommy..." murmured the iron dragonslayer.

Immediately, Hinata used her Fire Dragon's Roar to send Gajeel flying, who began to scream. He promptly crashed through the wall and was sent right outdoors.

"Ugh..." said Gajeel.

Both of them began to pant in exhaustion. As it turned out, Hinata had used up quite a lot of magic in that attack.

It looks like she wasn't going to be able to use fire magic against Gajeel anymore.

However, at this point, Gajeel decided that he wanted to beat Hinata up with his bare hands. He helped himself to his feet and got into a boxing stance.

"You know what? Let's not use magic anymore...let's decide this mano-to-mano!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

Suddenly, Naruto let out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" inquired Gajeel.

"You do realize that Hinata is the last person you want to face in a fist-to-fist match, am I right?" inquired the genin.

"Huh?" asked the iron dragonslayer curiously.

Suddenly, Hinata began to beat Gajeel savagely with a Gentle Fist barrage.

"Aargh!" screamed the iron dragonslayer. What kind of mage was Hinata? He felt like he was being punched in the soul!

Suffice to say, he could not withstand such a ferocious assault, and he immediately collapsed on the ground.

"Impossible...I was defeated...by a little girl. How can this be?" asked Gajeel.

"I'm a big girl!" screamed Hinata.

A few seconds later, the iron dragonslayer passed out.

"Phew...that match really took the wind out of me...but at least you're safe...even if I couldn't save your shirt..." answered the kunoichi.

"It's OK...I'll just get another one from the locker room." said Naruto.

Immediately, Happy approached Naruto and Hinata using some crutches to support his broken leg.

"I found these in the dungeon! Aren't they nifty?" inquired the Exceed.

"Yes, they are." answered Hinata.

"Should we do something about Gajeel? He looks like he needs some medical attention..." noted Naruto.

"I guess we could take him as a prisoner of war, I suppose." said the kunoichi.

Immediately, she picked up Gajeel and began to carry him on her back.

"Let's go home, shall we?" inquired Hinata.

"Yes, of course." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, the trio went back home so that they could get some rest.

Sure enough, Gray had managed to defeat the Phantom Lord mages guarding the entrance, and he soon followed them.

Levy was rather relieved, to say the very least.

"Thank goodness you saved him...I was starting to get worried. But where is his shirt?" inquired the letter mage.

"It got ripped off." explained Hinata.

At that very moment, the kunoichi collapsed on the floor.

"I'm going to sleep..." murmured the teenage girl as she closed her eyes.

Levy immediately raised an eyebrow.

"What's gotten into her?" inquired the letter mage.

"She got into a pretty big fight with another dragonslayer...who we happen to have taken as a prisoner." said Naruto.

Sure enough, Gajeel was still unconscious.

"Really? He's kind of cute." said Levy.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I'll take him to our prison cell..." said the letter mage.

"Make sure you use the plastic one...otherwise he'll just eat his way out." explained the genin.

"Huh? Of course!" nodded Levy.

"It's been a long day..." noted Naruto.

_Meanwhile..._

"Hey there, Lucy. Are you doing OK?" inquired Shikamaru.

"I can't help but shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen to my guildmaster soon..." answered the summoner mage.

"Really? How come?" asked the shadow ninja.

"I just can't help but shake the feeling that something big is happening on the other side...and that someone wants to return me to my father." explained Lucy.

"Your father? Something tells me that he isn't the best parent in the world considering your tone of voice when you said that..." noted the shadow ninja.

"Ever since my mother died, he became neglectful...so I decided to run away from home..." said the summoner mage.

"Really? That's rather sad..." answered Shikamaru.

"I know...I hope that he can come to his senses some day..." nodded Lucy.

"Me too..." said the shadow mage.

At that very moment, Jiraiya approached the two, much to their surprise.

"Jiraiya? Is that you?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Yes, it is I." answered Jiraiya.

"Can I help you?" asked Lucy.

"Lady Tsunade wants me to train you so that you can be the best ninja that you can be...that's what I did with the boy before you, after all..." said Jiraiya.

"Hmm? Oh sure." nodded Lucy.

"Good luck with the training!" exclaimed Shikamaru.

Immediately, Jiraiya and Lucy left so that she could learn how to summon a toad...a giant one that is.

"I wonder what he's going to teach me..." thought Lucy.

_Hooray! Naruto's been saved! But Phantom Lord isn't out of commission yet...in the next chapter, something bad is going to happen to Makarov...and again, things are going to start going downhill for Fairy Tail._

_I believe I said that was going to happen in the previous chapter...but this chapter turned out bigger than I imagined. Believe it! Heh heh._

_Adios, amigos...and amigas. I know I've got fangirls and fanboys reading this fanfic...so it's good to see I've got a wide audience, I suppose._

_See you soon!_


	19. Chapter 19: A Makeshift Portal

Ninja Tail 19

_In this chapter...well, Makarov's going to get stuck in an alternate dimension, leaving Fairy Tail without a leader! But not to worry...he'll be brought back, but he's not going to the world of magic alone._

_Oh, and Gray will become someone's interdimensional partner...it already happened to Natsu and Lucy...so..._

**Chapter 19: A Makeshift Portal**

Makarov knocked on the door to Master Jose's personal chambers.

"Come on out, Master Jose! You've got a lot to answer for!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

"Should we let him in?" asked Totomaru curiously.

"Yes. I've been looking forward to this." answered Master Jose.

Immediately, the Element 4 let Makarov into the guildmaster's chambers.

He then demanded Master Jose face him one by one.

"You want a one-on-one match? Alright then..." nodded the guildmaster.

Suddenly, the Element 4 began to huddle together, each of them taking up a specific position.

Monsieur Sol took up the south position, Aria the east, Totomaru the south, and Juvia the west.

"What are you doing?" asked Jose.

"This seemed like a good idea...though I'm not quite sure why." answered Aria.

Suddenly, an enormous purple barrier appeared, trapping Makarov inside.

"What the-" murmured the guildmaster.

"Huh...I don't ever recall you knowing that spell...but I'm not going to question it. Besides, you even managed to make it my favorite color." answered Master Jose.

"Ve're not sure how ve managed to do zis..." noted Monsieur Sol.

"How very odd..." answered Totomaru.

"I think we might need to stay in position for the barrier to operate properly..." said Aria.

"I guess we better hold still then." nodded Juvia.

"Right then...this should prevent you from calling for help...let's get going, shall we?" inquired Master Jose.

Immediately, he began to use his dark magic against Makarov.

Naturally, he retaliated by using his light magic against Master Jose.

"It's a battle of light and darkness...go figure." noted the guildmaster.

"I will not let you hurt us any longer!" bellowed Makarov.

Immediately, the guildmaster fired a light beam at the evil guildmaster.

Frantically, Master Jose moved out of the way, causing it to hit the barrier instead.

Oddly enough, this hardly affected it.

"This is one mighty barrier..." noted Master Jose.

In retaliation, he created some ghostly warriors to help him defeat Makarov.

However, Makarov retaliated by summoning some angels.

Immediately, the angels and ghostly warriors attacked each other, causing them to disappear.

Master Jose then followed up by firing a dark beam at Makarov, hoping that it would him in the face.

Fortunately for the latter, it did not. Once again, it hit the barrier, which was still going strong.

"Well, this definitely is going to keep the other Fairy Tail mages busy in case they want to save their guildmaster..." thought Master Jose.

Immediately, he began to cast his Dark Pulse spell.

Naturally, Makarov responded...with a Light Pulse spell.

"It's strange...despite our fields in magic being completely different...our spells are actually quite similar..." said the guildmaster.

"What a coincidence." answered the Phantom Lord mage.

After the spells countered each other, Master Jose began to attack Makarov with his Dead Wave spell.

In retaliation, Makarov transformed into a Titan.

Fortunately, he did not hit his head on the barrier.

"Is the Fairy Tail guildmaster Yoda?" inquired Totomaru curiously.

"I suppose he could be...though I don't think he lives in a swamp." questioned Aria.

"Who would vant to live zere?" inquired Monsieur Sol.

"I would...I'm a water mage..." answered Juvia.

Deciding to give their opponent everything they had, they began to charge up magic for some enormous magical spells.

There was an large explosion, and both mages were sent flying.

Fortunately for Master Jose, he landed just a few feet away from the barrier.

Unfortunately for Makarov, he ended up crashing directly into the barrier, causing him to scream as it was hot to the touch.

Realizing that the barrier was something that neither of them wanted to make contact with, Master Jose suddenly got an idea.

Promptly, he grabbed onto Makarov using some darkness tendrils.

"What are y-"

He then followed by brutally slamming him into the barrier, significantly injuring him.

Laughing with delight, Master Jose slammed Makarov into the barrier again and again and again.

Eventually, he was very badly burned, and was in desperate need for medical attention.

At this point, he was beginning to transform back into his regular form.

"You...will not...defeat...Fairy Tail." murmured Makarov as he passed out.

_Meanwhile..._

Orochimaru let out a sigh.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Kabuto.

"It just occurred to me that I could have killed the Third Hokage simply by shoving him into the barrier that the Sound Four used to imprison him..." questioned the Sannin.

"Really?" asked the medical ninja.

"Yes...if I slammed him into it hard enough he likely would have died...I wish I would have thought of that before he went and crippled me..." noted Orochimaru.

"I see." nodded Kabuto.

"No matter. He's trapped in the stomach of the Grim Reaper now...much to my delight." said the Sannin.

"That's fortunate." answered Orochimaru's right-hand.

"Speaking of the Sound Four, where are they? I assumed that they would be back by now..." questioned the snake sannin.

"They are taking a long time..." noted Kabuto.

"You think they had some...complications?" inquired Orochimaru.

"I suppose they could have..." nodded the medical ninja.

Suddenly, a messenger gave Orochimaru a letter.

"Hmm?" inquired the snake sannin.

Orochimaru immediately opened the package that the messenger had given him...and immediately frowned.

"What's the matter?" inquired Kabuto.

"I'm being sued by Lord Voldemort for copyright infringement." said Orochimaru.

"You are?" asked the medical ninja.

"Off to court I go...maybe on the way back I can experiment on some of the jury..." answered the Sannin.

Orochimaru immediately left his laboratory so that he could straighten things out.

_Meanwhile..._

"Well well well. It looks like the mighty have fallen. So much for your guild being superior to ours." said Master Jose.

"He wasn't so tough, was he?" inquired Totomaru.

"Zis was almost too easy..." noted Monsieur Sol.

Immediately, the Element 4 called off the barrier so that Master Jose could walk free.

"Did we really do it?" inquired Aria, a tear leaving his eye.

"I have to admit, he looks rather...messed up." noted Juvia.

Oddly, each of the Element 4 seemed a bit disturbed as to what happened to Makarov.

"Well then...now that I've taken care of their guildmaster, I should be able to work my way down from there...then again, they will probably insist on fighting to the last man...or woman." questioned Master Jose.

Immediately, he turned to the unconscious and horribly burned Makarov.

"You know, Makarov, as much fun as it would be to kill you right here and now...I think it'll be more fun to strand you into an alternate dimension where you will slowly die..." answered Master Jose.

Immediately, he began to open up an interdimensional portal, which quickly sucked in Makarov.

"So long!" exclaimed Master Jose.

The interdimensional portal immediately disappeared.

"Did you take him to the world of ninja?" inquired Totomaru.

"Yes...even if he manages to recover...he will have no way to return to his friends and family...inevitably his heart is going to break...I delight in it." said Master Jose.

"Alright zen.." answered Monsieur Sol, somewhat disturbed by his master's sadism.

Once again, Aria began to cry.

Juvia immediately handed him some tissues.

Immediately, the Element 4 began to wonder where exactly Makarov had gone.

"Right then, I guess it's time for us to throw a p-"

At that very moment, Boze and Sue entered the room looking somewhat panicked.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Master Jose.

"There's been an attack! Gajeel has been captured by Fairy Tail!" exclaimed Boze.

"What?!" bellowed the dark mage.

"Not only that...they've managed to rescue our hostage!" bellowed Sue.

"Darn it! Now how are we going to track down Lucy Heartfilia?" inquired Master Jose.

"We managed to cast a tracking spell to hunt her down, actually. We believe that she's in a village...a leaf village to be precise." explained Boze.

"Well, that should help us track her down." said the shadow mage.

"We're not sure where exactly she is in the Leaf Village though..." answered Sue.

"Then I guess it's time to get searching." said Master Jose.

Immediately, he instructed the Element 4 to begin their search for Lucy Heartfilia.

Hopefully, they would be able to find him soon.

Nonetheless, he was starting to get rather worried about Gajeel. How much information about Phantom Lord was he going to spill?

Then again, considering that he had managed to defeat their leader, maybe he could still defeat Fairy Tail without him.

_Meanwhile..._

Tsunade was beginning to wonder if these interdimensional portals even existed. She hadn't actually gotten the opportunity to see one for herself.

Was she dreaming? Was there really an interdimensional portal gradually replacing her friends and family?

"Hmm..." thought Tsunade.

However, at that very moment, she received concrete proof that the interdimensional portals actually existed.

At that very moment, a purple interdimensional portal began to appear.

"Hmm?" inquired the Sannin.

Shortly afterwards, Makarov came tumbling through the void.

Much to her surprise, she found that he was badly injured.

"What's going on?" inquired Tsunade.

Immediately, Tsunade began to use her healing jutsu to heal Makarov from his horrible injuries, causing him to slowly wake up.

"Where am I?" inquired Makarov as he began to help himself to his feet.

"You're in Konoha. I'm the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade." said Tsunade as she shook Makarov's hand.

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am. I'm Makarov, the leader of Fairy Tail." answered Makarov.

"Wait, you're the leader of Fairy Tail? I believe Lucy and Natsu are going to be happy to see you again." noted the Fifth Hokage.

"You're right! I need to visit them immediately!" exclaimed Makarov.

However, at that very moment, Tsunade heard something crack.

"Gah! Not my lumbago again!" screamed the leader of Fairy Tail.

"If you want I can teach you a jutsu that will make you younger." answered Tsunade.

"Wait, you can?" inquired Makarov.

Immediately, she handed Makarov a scroll detailing the jutsu...of course, he was going to have to substitute chakra with magic, but other than that, it didn't seem too difficult for him to use.

He decided to take it for a test run...and passed the test with flying colors. Immediately, his hair began to turn blonde instead of white, and his wrinkles began to disappear. Also, he became a bit taller.

"So, how do you feel?" asked Tsunade curiously.

"I feel powerful! I feel invincible! I feel pretty! I feel like singing!" bellowed Makarov.

"So, you feel good then?" inquired the Sannin.

"The best I've had in ages! I'm going for a jog!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

"OK...make sure that you visit Lucy and Natsu while you're at it, will you? They miss you." answered Tsunade.

"Yes, of course!" bellowed Makarov.

Immediately, he went to visit his loyal guildmates.

"I can't believe an interdimensional portal would appear right in my office..." said Tsunade.

_Meanwhile..._

The Sound Four immediately visited Elm Town in their search for food...

...but much to their surprise, they found it to be completely deserted.

"Where did everyone go?" inquired Sakon.

"This place is a ghost town." said Kidomaru.

"Why did they all leave?" asked Tayuya.

"Well, at least we should be able to find food...and not have to pay for it." noted Jirobo.

"Yes, of course. Of course." nodded the musical assassin.

Immediately, the four of them went to visit the local McDonalds.

Sure enough, it was empty as well.

Shrugging, they decided to help themselves for some fast food.

"This is delicious..." murmured Jirobo.

"I'm sure it is." nodded Tayuya.

"I'm getting a kids' meal!" exclaimed Kidomaru.

"But you're too old for that." answered Sakon.

"Aww!" complained the spider man.

Immediately, Ukon detached himself from Sakon's body so that he could eat some fast food as well.

"Where is everyone? This is actually starting to creep me out...and you know how creepy we are." answered Ukon.

"I wonder if something is going on here..." questioned Tayuya.

Suddenly, she found a body lying on the floor...by the looks of it, someone had torn his heart out.

"Um, guys...I think you should take a look at this." said the genjutsu user.

"What?" inquired Kidomaru.

Immediately, she pointed out the dead body on the floor.

"Is there a serial killer on the loose?" inquired Kidomaru.

"By the looks of it, they're doing their job well." answered Jirobo.

"We might not want to stay here for too long." noted Sakon.

"Alright then...we'll finish eating and then we'll leave town. Sound good?" inquired Tayuya.

The other members of the Sound Four nodded.

_Meanwhile..._

Lucy was eagerly enjoying her training with Jiraiya. However, she noticed that Jiraiya kept staring at her chest, and it was making her feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Can you please stop that?" inquired Lucy.

"What? Sorry. I do that sometimes." answered the pervy sage.

"Can you at least do that to someone that's older?" asked the summoner mage.

"Whenever I do that, I get punched in the face..." answered Jiraiya.

"I see..." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, she began to summon toads.

"Aww! Look at how cute they are!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Funny, most girls I know are usually creeped out by toads...but you seem to be rather different." noted Jiraiya.

"Really? Huh. I guess I must be special..." answered Lucy.

"You're from another world, aren't you?" inquired the Sannin.

"Yes, I am. So, how is my training going?" nodded the kunoichi.

"Surprisingly well. You seem to be a rather fast learner." answered Jiraiya.

"I suppose I am." nodded Lucy. She had learned how to use Naruto's Rasengan rather quickly.

"Well, I think we're done for today, I suppose. Try to keep practicing." said the Sannin as he went to look for some attractive females.

"OK, I will." answered the kunoichi.

Curious, she decided to summon some more toads.

Oddly enough, she happened to have summoned a frog as well, much to the other toad's surprise.

"I guess they don't like seeing what's basically a toad that's covered with mucus..." noted Lucy.

The other toads looked rather disgusted.

"Don't worry, I'll take him to a pond so that you don't have to look at him." said Lucy.

The toads let out a sigh of relief.

She immediately took the frog to a nearby lake, where he could live on a lily pad and hopefully find another frog so that they could make tadpoles.

"Have fun." said Lucy.

Suddenly, Shikamaru approached Lucy.

"Hey there, Shikamaru. Can I help you? You look excited about something." answered the summoner mage.

"We managed to make an improvised interdimensional portal!" exclaimed Shikamaru.

"Really? You did? Perfect! Now I can finally go home! Then again I am going to miss you guys..." explained Lucy.

"You can always write, right?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"I suppose." nodded the summoner mage.

Immediately, Shikamaru and Lucy left to head to the interdimensional portal, where Natsu was waiting.

"Hey there, Lucy! This is great, isn't it? We're finally going to get to go back home!" exclaimed Natsu.

Of course, he seemed rather nervous about being a crowd full of people...but other than that, he appeared to be fine.

"Yes, we are, Natsu!" cheered Lucy.

Sure enough, Shikamaru was explaining the situation to an audience.

"Thanks to an experimental jutsu, we've managed to make an interdimensional portal of our own...however, since it's still experimental, we're going to need a volunteer. We're not sure where exactly in the world of magic you're going to end up." said Shikamaru.

At that very moment, Sakura Haruno raised her hand.

"You want to use the interdimensional portal, Sakura?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"I want to talk to Naruto. He's worried me sick!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Oh, right. Of course." answered Shikamaru.

Immediately, Sakura Haruno entered the portal...

...and ended up in Phantom Lord's guild.

Master Jose noticed her presence.

"Hmm? How did you get here? No matter. How would you like to join one of the best guilds in Fiore? We're about to defeat Fairy Tail as we speak...and you know how strong they are." asked Master Jose.

Quickly releasing that Master Jose was a sociopath, she politely declined his offer.

"Hmph. Very well. Someone escort her to the exit, will you? I don't have time for this..." said the guildmaster.

"Where is Naruto? Have you seen him?" inquired Sakura.

"Naruto? Who is that?" asked Jose curiously.

"He has blonde hair...and typically wears orange clothing." explained the super-strong ninja.

"Funny...I believe that we took him hostage not too long ago...he wouldn't give us information about Lucy's whereabouts...so we tortured him." said Master Jose.

"You what?!" exclaimed Sakura.

"I have to admit, I kind of wish I went to the dungeon so that I can hear him scream...from what Monsieur Sol told me it was absolutely hil-

Suddenly, Sakura kicked Master Jose right between the legs, causing him to scream in pain and collapse on the ground.

She then went to search for Naruto. He had to be around the world of magic somewhere.

Maybe she should try visiting the Fairy Tail guild Master Jose had mentioned? Then again, she wasn't sure where their headquarters was.

Thankfully, there was an enormous sign pointing to where the Fairy Tail guild base was.

"That makes things easier." thought Sakura as she headed towards her destination.

Unbeknownst to Sakura, the interdimensional portal had just changed location due to its unpredictability compared to the portal that Levy had made.

Oddly enough, the Konoha interdimensional portal happened to be red instead of Fairy Tail's interdimensional portal's blue.

_Meanwhile at the Fairy Tail guild base..._

"This isn't good...it's been hours since Makarov went to challenge Master Jose..." said Levy.

Without their guildmaster, they were going to have a very hard time defeating Phantom Lord.

On the plus side, her teammates seemed to be recovering from the injuries Gajeel had inflicted upon them. Hopefully they would be able to fight soon.

Then again, without Makarov, there were only so much that Team Shadow Gear could do.

"You think something happened to him?" inquired Gray.

At that very moment, an interdimensional portal appeared.

Curious, Levy used a tracking spell to determine the whereabouts of Makarov...

...and discovered that he was now in the world of ninja.

"I think he somehow ended up in the world where Lucy and Natsu are..." answered the letter mage.

"Then we need to go search for him." said the ice mage.

Immediately, Gray went to use the interdimensional portal so that he could search for Makarov.

"Why do I get the feeling that the interdimensional portal is going to shut on him?" inquired Levy.

That had already happened twice before.

Then again, this interdimensional portal did not belong to her...so maybe it would be a bit more stable.

Then again, unlike the Fairy Tail portal, this one appeared to be a bit more...chaotic.

"Where is it going to head next?" inquired Levy.

_At Konoha..._

At that very moment, Gray stepped out of the interdimensional portal.

"So, this was where Natsu and Lucy went..." said the ice mage.

At that very moment, Lucy and Natsu noticed him.

"Gray!" cheered Natsu.

Immediately, Natsu and Lucy began to hug him.

"Good to see you guys again..." answered Gray.

"Is this another friend of yours? Good that you could be reunited..." answered Shikamaru.

"Have you seen Makarov? I'm looking for him so that he can go back home...we need to help him protect us from Phantom Lord." said the ice mage.

"Phantom Lord?!" exclaimed Lucy. It looks like her instincts were right. Her guild really was in trouble.

At that very moment, Makarov paid the trio a visit.

"There you ar-guildmaster! What happened to you!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Greetings, Salamander. Thanks to a friend of mine, I've been feeling so very wonderful..." answered Makarov.

"Was it Tsunade? I heard that she knew a jutsu so that she could stay young...I wonder if she could teach me that once I get older..." noted Lucy.

"Yes, it was!" nodded the leader of Fairy Tail.

"Get going!" exclaimed Gray.

Immediately, Makarov used the interdimensional portal to get back to Fairy Tail.

Unfortunately, it closed shortly afterwards.

"Sorry, guys...I guess it couldn't last long." apologized Shikamaru.

"It's OK...getting our guildmaster back was enough. We're actually starting to feel at home here, to be honest." said Lucy.

"Really? I can try to create another portal..." answered the shadow ninja.

"You can do that...just don't strain yourself too hard." said the summoner mage.

"I won't...I need to go to sleep, anyway..." said Shikamaru.

Immediately, he began to yawn.

"So...what do you want to do now?" inquired Gray.

"Maybe go on a mission here sometime. For now, I guess we can go talk to Tsunade and explain the recent events." said Lucy.

"That seems as good of an idea as any." answered the ice mage.

Immediately, he began to take off his shirt, causing some of the members in the Konoha audience to go wild.

"Please don't do that in public..." said Lucy.

"Fine." answered Gray as he put his shirt back down.

Natsu noticed that the audience were staring at him due to his bare chest, and began to wonder if he should wear something less revealing.

"I can't have people staring at me like this..." thought the fire mage.

_Meanwhile..._

Sakura immediately knocked on the Fairy Tail guild door, hoping that they could help her search for Naruto.

"Hey! Are you there? Hello?" inquired the kunoichi.

Hinata immediately answered the door, and gasped in astonishment.

"Sakura? Is that you?" asked the fire ninja.

"Yes, it is I. I'm here to look for Naruto...of course, considering you're here, I don't think he's far behind." answered Sakura.

"Right, of course." nodded Hinata.

Immediately, the medical kunoichi went to search for Naruto, who as she discovered was lying on a chair. Promptly, he nearly fell out of it upon seeing Sakura.

"Sakura?! Is that really you?!" exclaimed Naruto.

Sakura slapped Naruto in the face.

"There you are! Do you have any idea how worried about you I was?!" bellowed the kunoichi.

"I'm sorry, Sakura! This interdimensional portal business is driving me nuts!" screamed Naruto.

"Don't leap into any more portals!" screamed Sakura.

"I won't, Sakura...I won't." answered the genin.

Suddenly, she noticed that Naruto had a magazine on the table.

Curious, Sakura took a closer look, and noticed that he had turned to a page with rather attractive-looking females on it.

"What are you reading?" asked the kunoichi.

"I'm just looking at those really attractive girls I found in it...I have to admit, I want to go on a date with one of them some time." said Naruto.

Sakura immediately crumpled the magazine in her hand. She was clearly very angry at Naruto.

"Is something the matter, Sakura?" inquired the genin.

Suddenly, she froze the genin solid in a block of ice.

"I'm not quite sure how I did that...but that should teach you a lesson in respect." thought Sakura as she decided to go look for the guildmaster, leaving Naruto frozen in the process.

_Meanwhile..._

On the way to Tsunade's office, Lucy, Natsu, and Gray came across an old "friend" of theirs.

It was none other than Takeshi. It seemed that they couldn't hold him forever.

"Not you again..." murmured Lucy.

"Who is this guy?" asked Natsu.

"Just a psycho that loves trying to kill people." said the summoner mage.

Natsu's face turned pale.

"Actually, I'm in a merciful mood today." answered Takeshi.

Natsu's pulse settled.

Immediately, he pointed towards Gray.

"Huh?" inquired the ice mage.

"I'm going to mug you!" exclaimed Takeshi.

Suddenly, he pushed Gray towards the ground and made off with his wallet.

"Oh dear..." murmured Lucy as Gray helped himself to his feet.

"My wallet...he took my wallet..." spoke Gray.

"It's OK...we'll get it back..." answered Lucy.

Suddenly, Gray began to breathe heavily.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Natsu.

This was then followed by him screaming in rage.

Natsu began to whimper.

He immediately ran towards Takeshi and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him above his head.

"Listen to me, you little weasel! If you ever steal my wallet again, I'm going to hit you on the head with a shovel, cut out one of your kidneys, and leave you in a bathtub full of ice! Do you understand me?!" bellowed Gray.

"Yes, we're clear! Let me go! Please! I'll do anything!" screamed Takeshi.

Gray immediately let go of him, and he handed back the stolen wallet.

Takeshi then ran as far away from Gray as possible.

"That's better." answered the ice mage.

Curious, he noticed that Lucy gasped in shock.

"Huh? What's the matter?" inquired Gray.

"I think you've become someone's interdimensional partner!" exclaimed Lucy.

"What? I have?" asked the ice mage curiously.

"I've never seen you act like this before!" bellowed the kunoichi.

"You were right...that was rather unusual of me..." nodded Gray.

"Let's go tell Tsunade about this...she might be able to tell you who your interdimensional partner is." said Lucy.

Curious, she noticed that Natsu was hiding behind a tree. Apparently, Gray had terrified him.

"C'mon Natsu! We need to go see the Fifth Hokage!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Huh? Of course!" bellowed the fire mage.

Immediately, the trio went to see Tsunade.

_Meanwhile..._

Noticing that Naruto was trapped inside a block of ice, Hinata immediately used her fire abilities to thaw him out.

"Naruto? Are you OK? What happened to you? Did Phantom Lord try to kidnap you again?!" exclaimed Hinata.

"It was Sakura! She got mad at me for reading a magazine about girls...and then she froze me solid!" bellowed Naruto.

Curious, Hinata picked up Naruto's copy of the Sorcerer Magazine and started flipping the pages.

"Huh...these girls really are attractive." thought the kunoichi. No wonder Naruto was absorbed into it.

Oddly enough, Erza happened to be on the front cover...was that the reason Naruto had picked out that magazine in the first place?

From what she had seen about them so far, Naruto was rather close to her.

"Since when could she freeze me solid anyway? I thought she was simply going to punch me..." said the genin.

"I think we have another interdimensional partner on our hands..." spoke Hinata.

"Who is it this time?" asked Naruto.

"I have a pretty good idea." nodded Hinata.

"Should we go talk to her?" inquired the genin.

"I suppose." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, the duo went to go talk to Sakura and explain the situation.

"I wonder who it could be? That ice magic seems awfully familiar..." thought Hinata.

_At the Fifth Hokage's Office..._

Once again, Lucy knocked on the door to the Fifth Hokage's Office.

"Come on in." said Tsunade.

Immediately, Lucy entered the office along with Gray and Natsu.

"This is my buddy, Gray! We've known each other for years!" exclaimed the fire mage.

As she did so, she noticed that Gray was using what appeared to be a healing jutsu to heal the bruise that Takeshi had inflicted upon him when he pushed him to the ground.

"I see that you've brought another one of your friends with you to our world...is there anything you wish to talk about him?" inquired the Sannin.

"I think he's someone's interdimensional partner." said the summoner mage.

"Is he now?" asked Tsunade.

"He's shown a hair-trigger temper, he now has superhuman strength, and just recently he used a healing jutsu to heal himself!" exclaimed Lucy.

Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise.

"Huh? Do you know who it is?" asked Gray.

"I think you're my apprentice's interdimensional partner, Gray." said Tsunade.

"I am?" inquired the ice mage.

"Yes...she happens to have all those traits you mentioned, and then some..." explained the Sannin.

"Now that I think of it...I did see a pink-haired girl use the interdimensional portal so that she could search for Naruto..." said Lucy.

"I take it's she's in the same situation as you then...this is hitting me rather close to home." answered Tsunade.

"Sorry to hear that." sympathized Natsu.

"On the plus side, we managed to return Makarov back to our guild..." said Lucy.

"That's a relief..." nodded the Fifth Hokage.

"I guess we're going to have to wait for Shikamaru to make another interdimensional portal...or for Fairy Tail to make one for us first." spoke Gray.

"I'd rather choose the latter...that interdimensional portal Shikamaru seemed rather erratic." noted Natsu.

"Yes, I know." nodded Lucy.

Shrugging, Lucy, Natsu, and Gray left the office to decide their next course of action.

As they did so, Tsunade began to wonder something.

"If Gray's inherited Sakura's healing abilities and strength...then what has Sakura inherited from him?" inquired the Sannin.

And what aspect of his personality was she going to obtain?

It looked like the interdimensional portals had struck again.

_Meanwhile..._

"Well, at least I managed to find Naruto...but how am I going to get back home?" questioned Sakura.

As it turned out, she was in the foyer.

At that very moment, Naruto approached her.

"Can I help you, Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Why, yes you c-"

Suddenly, Naruto's face turned pale.

"Is something the matter?" inquired the kunoichi.

Immediately, the genin began to scream.

He then ran out of the foyer and headed back home to Lucy's apartment.

"What's the matter with him?" thought Sakura.

Curious, she decided to look in the mirror...

...and immediately screamed.

She was in her underwear!

"My clothes! What happened to my clothes?!" screamed Sakura in horror.

At that very moment, Hinata decided to pay her a visit as well.

"There you are, Sakura! I've been looking for-oh boy." murmured Hinata.

Frantically, Sakura began to try to cover herself.

"I think I know who your interdimensional partner is now." said the kunoichi.

"My interdimensional partner?" inquired the medical ninja.

"Yes. It's Gray Fullbuster, I believe." explained Hinata.

Immediately, she handed Sakura a portfolio detailing what she needed to know about Gray.

"What does this have to do about m-wait, did you say that he's an ice mage? I just froze Naruto a while ago..." answered the kunoichi.

"Yes, you did...you've inherited his ice magic...as well as his stripping habit." said Hinata.

"I can't believe I've become a stripper..." murmured Sakura.

"I'm afraid that interdimensional portal can do things like that...it's already happened twice before." answered Hinata.

"It has?" inquired the kunoichi.

Now that she thought of it, something had seemed a bit off about Naruto when she had reunited with him, as well as Hinata herself.

"Yes, it has. Naruto's gained the ability to summon Celestial Spirits to help him in battles...and I've gained the ability to manipulate fire." explained Hinata.

"You can manipulate fire now?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, I can. I better be careful not to burn the place down...then again, I can put out a fire just as easily as I can start it. I can eat flames too..." noted the kunoichi.

"Interesting...can you go get me some clothes now?" inquired the medical ninja.

At that very moment, Erza stopped by.

"Erza! Perfect timing!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Is something the matter?" inquired the magic knight.

"We need you to give this poor girl some clothes...she's a friend of mine from the world of ninja." explained the kunoichi.

"Sure." nodded Erza.

Immediately, she gave Sakura a shirt and some pants.

"Thank you." said the kunoichi.

However, said shirt and said pants were humilating.

Immediately, Hinata began to laugh. On her shirt was a picture of Sakura meeting out with her.

"Aren't we a cute couple!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"What? What are you talking about?" inquired Sakura.

Curious, she looked at her shirt in the mirror, and discovered why Hinata was laughing.

"Darn it, Erza!" screamed Sakura.

"I really don't know why this keeps happening." answered Erza.

Sakura noticed on her pants that there was a picture of her making out with Ino as well.

"We don't love each other that way!" bellowed the kunoichi.

Immediately, Hinata noticed the picture as well.

"Have you been cheating on me?!" exclaimed Hinata, her hands on her ribs.

"Good grief..." murmured Sakura.

"By the way, I found these on the floor. Someone left these in the hallway...I believe these belong to you." said Erza.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. Now she could get dressed again.

"By the way, where's Naruto? I thought I heard him scream." asked Erza.

"He ran away when he saw Sakura in her underpants." explained Hinata.

"I guess I'll go tell him that we've solved that crisis." said the knight.

"See you later!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, Erza left to visit Lucy's apartment...which at the moment was Naruto's.

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter...because I know I did! Heh heh. In the next chapter, things are going to get intense, though._

_Why you may ask? Well, the Element 4 are going to make their move...and so is the rest of Phantom Lord for that matter._

_Adios!_


	20. Chapter 20: The Element 4

Ninja Tail 20

_In this chapter...the Element 4 are going to show up...and of course, Lucy's friends are going to battle them. They're not going to let them take her without a fight._

_And of course, Juvia will become smitten with Gray. Heh heh._

_Meanwhile, Phantom Lord will prepare to attack the Fairy Tail guild...with the Jupiter Cannon! Yikes!_

**Chapter 20: The Element 4**

Erza immediately went to visit Naruto's house. Much to her surprise, she found that he was writing his will.

"Hey there, Naruto!" exclaimed the knight.

Naruto immediately shrieked.

"Please don't hurt me! I haven't finished writing my will y-oh it's you. Thank goodness..." said the genin, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Why are you writing your will?" inquired Erza.

"In just a few moments from now, Sakura's going to kill me..." answered Naruto.

"Really? How come?" inquired the magic knight.

"You remember what I told you? Back when we were at the jungle?" asked the genin.

"You mean that mission where we ended up in a quicksand pit together? I got sunk up to my chest and you got sunk up to your shoulders...and yet we began to enjoy it after a while...if I recall correctly." questioned Erza.

"Yes...that was the one. And yes, that actually happened." nodded Naruto.

Curious, Erza noticed that his cheeks turned red when she asked that.

"Oh, that's right. You mentioned during that mission that if you ever looked at Sakura in her underwear, she'd sentence you to a terrible death, am I right?" inquired the knight.

"Yes...I've gone and done it now. I saw Sakura in her underwear...goodbye, Erza! I love you!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Don't worry about it. I'll make sure she doesn't hurt you." answered Erza.

"Wait, you will?" inquired the genin.

"Of course I will! You're my little buddy." exclaimed the knight.

"Thanks...I guess you're my big buddy. Heh heh." nodded Naruto.

"I'll go lock the door to your house so she can't get in..." said Erza.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the genin.

As she did so, she decided to take a quick look at Naruto's unfinished will.

"He actually included me in there...how sweet..." thought the knight.

Immediately, she locked the door to the house so that Sakura couldn't get inside.

"Right...that should keep her busy." thought Erza.

Suddenly, a fire axe began to cut through it.

"What the-" murmured the knight.

"Here's Sakura!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Oh no...not only is she going to kill Naruto...but she's going to reference The Shining first!" exclaimed Erza.

"All work and no play makes Sakura a very dull girl!" bellowed the kunoichi as she cut down the door to Lucy's apartment.

Immediately, Erza decided it was time for Plan B.

She stood in front of the door to Lucy's room so that she could protect him from Sakura.

Sure enough, she began to run towards the door.

"Not so fast, Sakura! If you want to kill Naruto, you're going to have to go through me first!" exclaimed Erza.

What she said next surprised her.

"Kill Naruto? What are you talking about?" inquired Sakura.

"Huh? You're not here to kill Naruto?" asked Erza.

"Of course not!" exclaimed the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Then why did you cut down the door to his house?" questioned the knight.

"His landlady insulted my mother." said Sakura.

"OK..." answered Erza.

Immediately, Sakura opened the door to Naruto's room, causing him to scream like a girl.

"Oh my gosh! Sakura, don't kill me! I'll do anything!" bellowed the genin.

"I'm not here to kill you, Naruto." said Sakura.

"Wait, what?" inquired Naruto.

"I'm actually here to apologize..." spoke the kunoichi.

"Really? You are?" asked the genin.

"I feel like I've been a bit too hard on you lately..." answered Sakura.

"Well, you did punch me in the stomach after I said that Mei Terumi was the hottest girl alive..." said Naruto.

"Yes, I know..." nodded the kunoichi.

"I appreciate the apology...so consider yourself forgiven!" exclaimed the genin.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, he noticed that Sakura was wearing a sarashi that went from her shoulders to her stomach rather than the shirt she was wearing earlier.

"Er, what happened to your shirt? Did you take it off again?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes and no...I didn't feel like wearing a shirt anymore, so I decided to wear this..." answered Sakura.

"Oh. That's funny, Gray mentioned to me earlier that he didn't like wearing shirts..." said Naruto.

"Hinata said I was his interdimensional partner now, or whatever that was..." spoke Sakura.

"That explains why you were able to freeze me solid..." answered the genin.

"Yes, I know. I promise you that I'll never threaten your life again...sound good?" inquired the kunoichi.

"That's a relief. And...yes." nodded Naruto.

Sakura immediately began to smile.

"By the way, I happen to have a guild mark on my backside now...according to Hinata, Gray had the guild mark in the exact same position, only on his left pectoral..." said the kunoichi.

"That's a relief...I wouldn't want it to be on your-"

"That's enough talk for today." answered Sakura.

Naruto left Lucy's room along with his partner.

As they did so, Naruto noticed that the door to Lucy's apartment had been knocked down.

"What happened to the door?" asked the genin.

"Oh, that...I cut it down with an axe." explained Sakura.

"How come?" inquired Naruto.

"The landlady was mean to me..." said the kunoichi.

"I see..." nodded the genin.

Deciding that Naruto and Sakura had made peace, Erza decided it was time to head back to the guild.

Sure enough, the duo began to follow her.

_Meanwhile..._

Gajeel woke up after his beating from Hinata. Much to his surprise, he found himself in a plastic prison.

"Huh...I guess they were smart enough not to put me in a metal prison..." answered the iron dragonslayer.

At that very moment, Makarov approached him. He had a death glare in his eyes.

Oddly, he seemed younger than Master Jose described him. Then again, he told his guildmates never to mention his name.

"Um, hi?" asked Gajeel nervously.

"What you did to my guild was unforgivable..." said Makarov.

Gajeel gulped. He was in big trouble.

"...but since I'm having the best day of my life, I'm willing to give you a second chance." answered the guildmaster.

"Wait, what?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

"Just promise never to attack my guild again and we'll let you out of here..." said Makarov.

"OK, I promise. I will never do something like that again. I swear on my deathbed." answered Gajeel.

"You swear to Mavis Vermillion?" inquired the guildmaster.

"Yes, I swear!" exclaimed Gajeel.

Makarov immediately released him from his cell.

Much to his surprise, Gajeel then asked if he could join his guild.

"Huh? You want to join our guild?" inquired the guildmaster.

"Well, you see..." answered Gajeel.

_On his way back to the Phantom Lord guild, Gajeel noticed that there was a rather young-looking Exceed standing outside._

_This particular Exceed happened to be white._

_"Aren't you a cute little guy?" inquired Gajeel._

_"I sure am!" nodded the Exceed._

_"How would you like to be my cat?" asked the iron dragonslayer._

_"I'd love to!" cheered the white Exceed._

_However, at that very moment, Master Jose stepped by._

_Immediately, he picked up the Exceed by the tail._

_"Perfect! Not only did you devastate Fairy Tail, you also caught me some lunch!" exclaimed the guildmaster._

_He went back to the guild so that he could make a meal out of the poor Exceed._

_"Nooooo!" bellowed Gajeel._

"So, you want revenge on Master Jose too, then?" asked Makarov.

"Yes, I do." nodded Gajeel.

"Alright then...mind you, the other guildmates might be more hesistant to accept you than I am...you kind of made them angry at you..." warned the guildmaster.

"I can live with that." answered the iron dragonslayer.

Immediately, Makarov escorted Gajeel out of the dungeon.

_A few minutes later..._

"Makarov! You're alive! Thank goodness...but since when were you so young?" inquired Levy.

"I found a friend that managed to make me younger..." answered Makarov.

"I see." nodded the letter mage.

Suddenly, she noticed that Gajeel was standing next to him.

"Wait, isn't that-"

"Yes, I know. He's agreed not to hurt us again and he wants revenge on Master Jose like the rest of us...so we let him join us as a recruit." explained Makarov.

"That's awfully nice..." nodded Levy, recognizing the guild mark on his left shoulder.

However, at that very moment, she noticed that everyone else in the guild had fled from him.

"Where did they go?" inquired Gajeel.

"It appears that they're terrified of him..." answered Makarov.

"Yeah...I'm bit wary of him myself...though admittedly he's kind of cute." spoke Levy.

"He looks rather scary if you ask me..." noted Makarov.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." said the letter mage.

At that very moment, Naruto and Sakura returned from Lucy's apartment. Erza had decided to use the ladies' room on the way there.

"Makarov! Good to see you're back...I was starting to get worr-"

Suddenly, he noticed Gajeel standing next to Makarov.

"Aah! Don't hurt me!" screamed Naruto.

Immediately, he began to hide behind a table.

"Did he beat you up?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, he did." nodded the genin.

"I feel a sense of deja vu..." answered the kunoichi.

"Don't worry, Naruto. He's on our side now. He's not going to hurt you any more...at least, not unless you provoke him." said Makarov.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Gajeel noticed that there was a copy of the Sorceror Magazine on the table.

"Wow, look at all those attractive girls..." said the iron dragonslayer.

Sakura was not amused. Immediately, she punched Gajeel in the face.

"What was that for?!" exclaimed the dragonslayer.

"You'll have to forgive Sakura...she always does that whenever someone's being a pervert..." said Naruto.

"Huh? Alright then...I'll give her a taste of her own medicine. See how much she likes it." answered Gajeel.

"What?" asked the genin.

Immediately, he punched Sakura in the face in return.

Naturally, this made her angry at him.

"Alright, you asked for this!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

The two began to fight.

"We might want to leave now..." said the genin.

Levy and Makarov nodded, deciding to head elsewhere for the time being.

Gajeel and Sakura both tried to land blow after blow on each other, but they seemed to be rather equally matched.

The former decided to turn the tables by covering himself with some iron scales.

"Ha! Let's see you try to punch me now!" exclaimed Gajeel.

However, much to his surprise, Sakura was able to crack the armor on his face with a single punch.

"How did you get so strong?!" bellowed Gajeel as she began to shatter his armor.

"Years of practice...and a hair-trigger temper." answered Sakura.

Suffice to say, the armor did not last long, and he was once more vulnerable to attack.

And to make matters worse, he did not have metal to eat, so no free powerups for him.

Immediately, Gajeel began to turn his arm into a sword that he could cut up Sakura. Surely she couldn't win a swordfight with her bare hands, right?

However, much to his surprise, Sakura once again had the means to counter this. In this case, she had some ice weapons of her own.

"I'm actually starting to like my new ice powers..." thought the kunoichi.

They kept at this for a while, countering sword with sword, club with club, mace with mace, and so on until they both became exhausted.

"Right then...let's finish this, shall we?" inquired Gajeel as he took a deep breath.

Realizing that he was launching a desperate attack, Sakura countered with a desperate attack on her own.

Once again, Gajeel found himself being sent flying.

However, this time, his opponent got sent flying as well.

This time, his battle with a girl had ended with a stalemate, as they both passed out on the floor.

Erza came by a few minutes later.

"Alright, I've finished my business and-what have we here?" inquired the knight.

Shrugging, she decided to take both Sakura and Gajeel to the infirmary, where they woke up from their scuffle.

"I'm sorry I beat you up...I can get angry like that sometimes..." answered the kunoichi.

"Are you kidding? That was the best fight I've had in ages! Let's fight again, shall we?" exclaimed Gajeel.

Sakura sweatdropped.

_Meanwhile..._

Master Jose moaned in pain after Sakura had kicked him in the groin. Why did she have to be so strong?

Fortunately, Boze and Sue decided to check on him.

"Master! Are you alright?" inquired Boze.

"You look hurt pretty bad..." answered Sue.

At that very moment, Master Jose began to breathe rather heavily.

"Is something the matter?" asked Sue.

"I'm going to wipe Fairy Tail off the face of the earth!" screamed Master Jose.

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Boze.

"They're all going to die!" bellowed the leader of Phantom Lord.

"Sheesh." answered Sue.

"Activate the Jupiter Cannon!" exclaimed Master Jose.

"Yes, of course!" nodded Boze, looking rather panic-stricken.

Immediately, the Jupiter Cannon emerged from the Phantom Lord guild base.

Suddenly, Sue remembered something important.

"Wait a minute...if we do this, Gajeel's going to get vaporized too! Fairy Tail took him prisoner!" exclaimed the mage.

"What?!" bellowed Master Jose. That actually hadn't occurred to him.

Immediately, he found himself in a rather difficult situation. Should he fire at the Fairy Tail guild base and wipe them off the face of the earth along with Gajeel? Or should he spare Fairy Tail and hope that they return Gajeel to him?

After much deliberation, he eventually made a decision.

"Fire the Jupiter Cannon!" exclaimed Master Jose.

"But what about-"

"His sacrifice will not be in vain!" bellowed the guildmaster.

Sue sighed.

"Yes, Master Jose..." answered the mage.

Immediately, the Jupiter Cannon began to gather magic energy.

"So long, Fairy Tail!" exclaimed Master Jose.

_Meanwhile..._

Lucy Heartfilia was having a nice day. She was playing shogi with Shikamaru once again, and she had beaten him two out of three times.

"Well, you won your bet, Lucy. Here is your ryo." said Shikamaru.

"Hooray!" cheered the summoner mage.

However, at that very moment, the Element 4 began to approach her.

"We've finally found her..." thought Totomaru.

"Can I help you?" asked Lucy.

Suddenly, Juvia stuffed Lucy inside a barrel, much to her surprise.

"Let me out of here!" screamed the summoner mage.

"Vhere did you get zat barrel, Juvia?" inquired Monsieur Sol.

"I found it when we went to investigate our surroundings earlier...it seemed useful." spoke Juvia.

Shikamaru gasped in shock. That was the exact same barrel the Sound Four had used to contain Sasuke when they went to deliver him to Orochimaru!

"Off to deliver her to her father we go. He'll be happy to see here again...it moves me to tears..." answered Aria.

At that very moment, Lucy began to cry. Apparently, she wasn't looking forward to seeing her father again, as Shikamaru noted.

Immediately, they began to leap their way back towards Phantom Lord's interdimensional portal. How they were doing so, they weren't quite sure...but it was rather useful.

"I must come up with a plan to save Lucy immediately!" he exclaimed.

Immediately, he went to look for his friends. He clearly didn't have much time.

Thankfully, Natsu and Gray was nearby, along with his best friend Choji, who was eating some buffalo wings.

"I need your help! Lucy's being kidnapped!" screamed Shikamaru.

Choji nearly choked on the buffalo wing he was eating.

"What?!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Who did this to her?" inquired Gray.

"Well, one of them had a monocle...one of them had black and white hair...one of them had blue hair and was wearing a hat, and one of them was wearing a blindfold..." answered Shikamaru.

"She must have been captured by the Element 4!" exclaimed Natsu.

"The Element 4?" inquired the Nara clan member.

"They're a group of mages that work for Master Jose...Makarov told me about them once...one of them happens to be a fire mage like my friend Natsu, oddly enough." answered Gray.

"So that's who abducted Lucy." answered Shikamaru.

"Let's get going!" exclaimed Choji.

Immediately, the four began to pursuit Lucy.

_A few minutes later..._

**"Well well well. It looks like you're going to see your abusive father again...I have to say I'm looking forward to it." **answered Kurama.

"I'm certainly not." noted Lucy.

**"I have to admit, I'm rather curious to what your world is like..." **said the nine-tailed fox.

"You better not try to destroy Fiore." answered the summoner mage.

**"It's in my nature." **said the nine-tailed fox.

"Hmph." answered Lucy.

Immediately, she began to wonder how she was going to get herself out of this mess. Shikamaru had seen her being kidnapped, sure...but would he be able to reach her in time?

Curious, she remembered what Jiraiya had taught her, and decided to summon a toad.

In this case, he ended up summoning Gabakichi.

"Hmm...it appears that my summons are more effective when I'm in mortal peril..." noted Lucy.

"Can I help you?" asked Gabakichi.

"Yes, you can. I'm in a bad situation here...four people are abducting me and I need to get out of this barrel!" exclaimed Lucy.

"You do realize that you can just lift the lid off the barrel, right?" inquired the toad.

Lucy sweatdropped.

"Well, I still need a diversion so that I can escape." answered the summoner mage.

"Alright then..." nodded the toad.

Immediately, he burst through the barrel and began to attack the Element 4.

"Get him off me!" bellowed Totomaru.

"Vhat is zat thing?" inquired Monsieur Sol.

"Juvia thinks that it's some sort of toad...but Juvia's never seen one this big!" exclaimed Juvia.

"Calm down. We'll deal with this shortly..." answered Aria.

"I'm afraid ve might have something bigger to deal vith..." answered Monsieur Sol.

"What?" inquired Totomaru.

As it turned out, Lucy was escaping...ironically enough by leaping like a toad.

"This isn't good...if she escapes from us Master Jose is going to kill us all...literally." answered Aria.

"We have to stop her!" exclaimed Totomaru.

Immediately, the Element 4 began to chase after Lucy.

And to make matters worse, they were slowly catching up to her. As it turned out, Gabakichi had been sent back home by his father, ironically enough.

"Was my escape attempt futile?" inquired Lucy.

Suddenly, the Element 4 stopped completely, much to their surprise.

"What in Fiore?" inquired Totomaru.

"We've been paralyzed!" exclaimed Juvia.

Aria began to cry.

"Who did zis to us?" inquired Monsieur Sol.

Curious, Lucy looked down, and discovered that Shikamaru had latched onto their shadows.

"Shikamaru! Thank the Celestial Spirit King you're here!" exclaimed Lucy.

**"That's a disappointment. I was hoping that they would bring you back to Fiore..." **answered Kurama.

Shikamaru, Natsu, Gray, and Choji appeared a few seconds later.

"Are you OK, Lucy?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Yes I am. Thank you for trying to save me..." answered Lucy.

"Let's flee for the hills and get Tsunade, shall we? My shadow jutsu isn't going to last forever." said Shikamaru.

"Yes, of course!" nodded the kunoichi.

However, at that very moment, Juvia suddenly thought of something.

"If we're bound by our shadows...what if I tried shapeshifting?" inquired the water mage.

Immediately, she began to do so...

...and broke free of the shadow technique.

"That actually worked. How about that." answered Juvia.

She began to creep up towards Shikamaru.

"Wait, wasn't there four of them?" inquired Lucy.

"Huh?" asked Shikamaru.

"The one with the blue hat and the umbrella! Why is she missing!?" exclaimed the summoner mage.

"That's odd. Where did she g-"

Lucy and Shikamaru's questions were answered when suddenly Juvia dropped a waterfall on top of Shikamaru.

"Gah!" exclaimed the shadow ninja.

Naturally, this was enough to dispel the jutsu.

Taking advantage of the situation, Monsieur Sol then trapped the five inside a giant earth dome.

"I'm not quite sure how I did zat...but it vas a blessing...so..." answered the French mage.

"You think we can recapture Lucy with this?" asked Aria.

"They vill eventually pass out, I suppose." nodded Monsieur Sol.

"Alright then. We'll wait for you at the interdimensional portal." answered Totomaru.

"Deja vu..." murmured Shikamaru.

Immediately, the other Element 4 went back to the interdimensional portal.

"How are we going to get out of here?" inquired Gray.

Natsu tried punching through the earth dome with his fists...

...only for the damage to the dome to quickly become undone.

"This dome can repair itself!" exclaimed the fire mage.

And to make matters worse...they were starting to hallucinate.

At that very moment, an illusion of Shikamaru appeared in front of Choji.

"Huh?" inquired Choji.

"You're fat and useless, Choji! I wish I never met you!" bellowed Shikamaru.

Choji began to cry.

"What's the matter, Choji?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"You just said that I was fat and useless!" exclaimed the Akimichi clan member.

"What? No I didn't! I would never say that to you!" bellowed Shikamaru.

Curious, Choji looked at the other three, and discovered that they seemed rather confused. By the looks of it, Shikamaru was telling the truth.

Suddenly, an illusion of Natsu appeared in front of Lucy.

"Huh?" inquired the summoner mage.

"Why do you make me rescue you all the time, Lucy?! You're not even worth the effort! I wish you never joined Fairy Tail!" exclaimed the illusionary version of Natsu.

Lucy began to bawl.

"Lucy, what's the matter?" inquired Shikamaru.

"I think we're starting to hallucinate..." answered the summoner mage.

Monsieur Sol laughed in delight. Apparently, the illusionary magic that he had casted on the earth dome was starting to take effect.

"This isn't good..." spoke Natsu.

At that very moment, an illusionary version of Lucy appeared in front of Shikamaru.

"Huh?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"You are such a slacker! You disgust me!" bellowed Lucy.

Immediately, she slapped Shikamaru in the face, causing him to whimper.

"You were right, Lucy. We really are hallucinating..." answered the shadow ninja.

"We're going to pass out if we keep seeing mirages like this!" bellowed Lucy.

Sure enough, they were starting to feel rather light-headed.

At that very moment, an illusionary version of Ur appeared in front of Gray.

"Here comes another one." said the ice mage.

"You let me die, Gray! How could you?! You were like a son to me!" exclaimed Ur.

Gray began to sniffle.

"There's got to be a way out of here somewhere..." answered Lucy.

"But the dome is reparing itself! We can't just tunnel through it!" exclaimed Natsu.

Sure enough, he was beginning to hallucinate as well.

In this case, it was an illusionary version of Happy.

"You took my tuna! You fiend!" bellowed the Exceed.

"Nooooo!" bellowed Natsu.

Curious, Shikamaru remembered that the earth dome technique had a weak spot that he could use.

"There's got to be a way out of here..." thought the boy.

Immediately, he decided to check where Monsieur Sol was.

"Hey! Is there someone there?" inquired Shikamaru.

"You should know zat by now." answered the earth mage.

"Can you let us out of here?" asked the shadow ninja.

"I suppose I could do zat...if you let me have ze fraulein." spoke Monsieur Sol.

Lucy began to whimper. Was he going to backstab her?

"No deal." answered Shikamaru.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. It was good to see Shikamaru cared about her. She was really starting to love him.

"Zen I hope you enjoy my cage of torment." said Monsieur Sol.

At that very moment, Shikamaru knew where to attack.

"Try hitting the side over there." suggested the shadow ninja, pointing to the opposite side of where Monsieur Sol was maintaining the dome.

Choji nodded, and used his body expansion jutsu to transform himself into a wrecking ball.

This worked surprisingly well. Immediately, they were able to break out of their prison, much to Monsieur Sol's surprise.

"Vhat?! You escaped?! Zat's impossible!" bellowed the earth mage.

"Your earth dome wasn't so invincible, after all. Besides, you're not the one who invented that technique." answered Shikamaru.

"Alright zen...it's time for another deal." said Monsieur Sol.

Immediately, he created an enormous boulder and lifted it above his head, much to the fivesome's shock.

"You return ze fraulein to us, and I don't use zis boulder to make you into French pancakes!" exclaimed the earth mage.

"What do we do?" inquired Natsu.

Fortunately, it was Choji's turn to shine once again. He immediately smashed the boulder to pieces.

"You think you can handle this guy? I don't believe that you have your chakra pills this time...then again, those do slowly poison your body..." answered Shikamaru.

"I'll be fine! You go on ahead and save Lucy! You should be able to get reinforcements if things get too tough..." said Choji.

"Yes, of course!" nodded Shikamaru.

Immediately, the other members of the retrieval squad (Lucy included) began to head back towards Konoha.

"Vell, vill you look at zat...I seem to be up against a fat boy. Someone has been eating their McDonalds." answered Monsieur Sol.

"Don't call me fat!" bellowed Choji.

"Hmm...you're in denial, non?" inquired the earth mage.

Immediately, Choji began to attack the mage by inflating himself like a balloon, and then charging straight towards Monsieur Sol.

Thankfully, due to the super strength he inherited from Jirobo, he was able to hold him back.

"OK...somezing tells me that I need some help to capture ze fraulein here...he's holding me off pretty darn vell." answered the earth mage.

_A few minutes later..._

"Monsieur Sol has been taking a while...should we go check on him?" inquired Juvia.

"Ladies first." answered Totomaru.

Juvia immediately went to look for Monsieur Sol.

Sure enough, he found the earth mage fighting Choji.

"Do you need help?" asked Juvia.

"I'm fine! Go get ze fraulein!" bellowed Monsieur Sol.

"I guess it's up to Juvia now." answered the water mage.

Immediately, she went to pursue Lucy.

"How far is it back to Konoha? They managed to take me quite a distance..." noted Lucy.

"We should be back in about twenty minutes..." explained Shikamaru.

Suddenly, she noticed something rather startling.

"Huh? Is something the matter?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"There's an enormous tidal wave heading right towards us!" exclaimed Lucy.

"What?!" bellowed Natsu.

Immediately, the foursome were hit by the tidal wave, knocking them off their feet.

"I think Monsieur Sol might not be our only threat here..." answered Gray.

"Drip drop, drip drop." said Juvia.

"It looks we're going to have send someone else here...any volunteers?" asked Shikamaru.

Immediately, Juvia lunged towards Lucy.

However, Gray intercepted her...

...and they were both sent tumbling down a cliff.

"Are they going to be OK?" inquired Natsu.

"I think so...it wasn't a very steep slope. Funny, for a moment there I thought I was going to be the one facing her...I keep having to face female opponents." answered Shikamaru.

"I guess this isn't going to be the case this time..." said Lucy.

Shrugging, Shikamaru, Natsu, and Lucy began to continue their journey back towards Konoha.

_A few minutes later..._

"Hmm...Monsieur Sol still isn't back yet..." noted Totomaru.

"You think Juvia is going to run into complications as well?" inquired Aria.

"I suppose she could, why?" asked the fire mage.

"Then I suggest you go help her and Monsieur Sol." answered the air mage.

Totomaru nodded, and began to search for them.

Sure enough, he found Juvia (along with Gray) at the bottom of a cliff.

"Wake up!" bellowed the fire mage.

Juvia and Gray both woke up from their nap. Immediately, they began to fight.

"I guess it's up to me now..." answered Totomaru.

Curious, he began to look for something in his bag that he could use to fight Lucy's friends.

However, instead of his trademark katana...he instead found a mysterious flute.

Curious, he began to play it, and immediately, three demons appeared.

Oddly enough, one of them was red, one of them was yellow, and one of them was blue...similar to his rainbow magic.

"Can you help me capture Lucy?" inquired Totomaru.

"Of course we can!" exclaimed the red demon.

"Sir, yes, sir!" bellowed the yellow demon.

"Let's go." said the blue demon.

Immediately, the trio went to search for Lucy.

"I guess I might as well go with them." said Totomaru.

Unsurprisingly, the trio of demons began to attack the trio, each of them attacking using rainbow magic of their same color.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot!" exclaimed Lucy.

For a moment, Shikamaru began to wonder if she was referring to herself. He was actually inclined to agree.

Of course, he could also say the same for Natsu, since he was a fire mage.

At that very moment, Totomaru lunged towards them with his sword.

However, Shikamaru decided to hold him off with his shadow jutsu.

"Keep going!" exclaimed the shadow ninja.

"Goodbye Shikamaru...I hope that you can defeat him..." said Lucy, looking a bit sad.

"Don't worry about me! Worry about yourself! I assembled a rescue team, didn't I?" inquired Shikamaru.

Lucy nodded, and she left along with Natsu.

_Meanwhile..._

"You know, considering that I sent all my teammates after Lucy...I'm starting to wonder if I should enter the fray myself." thought Aria.

Immediately, he began to cry. He was already starting to miss his teammates.

However, after a few moments of this, he came to a decision.

"You know what! I'm going after Lucy myself! I'm the leader of this team, aren't I? If there's anyone that can do this...it's me!" exclaimed the air mage with ambition.

He transformed into his vapor form, and began to chase after Lucy.

On the way there, he noticed that his teammates were fighting against her friends.

"I guess this was a good decision..." thought Aria.

Immediately, he noticed that Lucy was going to cross the border to Konoha soon, and realized what had to be done.

Suddenly, he began to attack the duo with a tornado.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Natsu.

"I guess there's still one left..." answered Lucy.

"Give us back the girl...or I'm going to cry. Please?" asked Aria.

"Sorry, but we're going to have to politely turn down your demands. Konoha is her home...or at least it is for the time being..." said Natsu.

"Yes! Let me go!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Very well. I didn't want to resort to this...but I have no choice." answered Aria.

Immediately, he began to shoot spider webbing at the duo, tying up Natsu and Lucy.

"I had to admit, this was a bit of a surprise when I first used it...but I have to admit, it's rather useful." answered Aria.

Fortunately, Natsu was able to free himself along with Lucy thanks to his fire magic, though he had to be careful not to burn the latter in the process.

"Lucy, you go on ahead! I'll hold him off! You should be able to head back home now...there's nobody else to attack us!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"Right, of course!" nodded the summoner mage.

Immediately, she left to go get some help. Hopefully, her teammates would be able to hold off the Element 4 until then.

_Meanwhile..._

"I'm feeling a strange sense of deja vu..." answered Sakon as he left the McDonalds.

"Me too..." nodded Kidomaru.

"What's going on back at the world of ninja?" questioned Tayuya.

Jirobo shrugged.

"Anyways...if we're going to capture that little brat, we're going to need to summon Kimimaro. We can't take on those miserable friends of his alone." explained Tayuya.

"You're right...last time we tried that, we got locked away...we might not be as lucky this time..." nodded Kidomaru.

"When I catch him, I'm going to punch him in his face." answered Jirobo.

"Sounds delightful." nodded Sakon.

Immediately, they began to stand in their respective positions.

Shortly afterwards, a mandala began to appear, along with some candles.

Gradually, the candles began to light up.

"How long is this going to take?" asked Ukon, emerging from his brother's body.

"Only a few minutes...though it might be a bit longer." explained Sakon.

"Finally! Now we can get out of here! This place is creeping me out!" exclaimed Tayuya.

"I actually agree on you on that...for once." nodded Jirobo.

"Want to play a game until then?" inquired Kidomaru.

The other members of the Sound Four shrugged.

Immediately, Kidomaru pulled out a dartboard and began to toss kunai at it. Naturally, he was the best shot, though Tayuya wasn't a far second.

"I love this game...though personally I'd rather toss a kunai at someone's skull..." answered Kidomaru.

"I'd rather just stab them with it." explained Tayuya.

_At the police station..._

The police chief let out a sigh of relief. He was rather worried that he wouldn't be able to catch the killer...but by the looks of it he didn't have anything to worry about anymore.

"Looks like a job well done...sheesh, so many people are dead...I don't think this town is going to be quite the same again..." answered the police chief.

Hopefully someone would be able to undo the damage Chiyoye did, though admittedly that was going to take a while.

Suddenly, he began to hear moaning noises coming from the prison.

"Huh?" inquired the police chief.

Curious, he began to investigate the prison. As he did so, he began to feel rather nervous.

He had to admit, it was a long way down towards the prison cells.

Curious, he looked at the prisoners...

...and gasped in surprise.

Every single one of them had become a zombie!

"What happened here?! What happened to the prisoners?! And where are the guards?!" exclaimed the police chief.

"I happened." answered Chiyoye.

"What?! You did this?!" bellowed the chief.

"Did you really think that it was going to be that easy to lock me away? I assure you...you're going to need a much higher security cell than that." answered the necromanceress.

"Good lord...I need to get some backup! Anyone! Please...help me!" shouted the police chief.

"Backup? I'm afraid your backup is now my backup, actually. I actually didn't stop with your prisoners..." said Chiyoye.

"What?!" bellowed the man.

Immediately, several skeletonized police officers joined Chiyoye's side. They began to release the zombies from their cells using their keys.

The police chief could not believe what was happening. His worst nightmares had come true...and then some.

"Right then...now that you're all free...tear him limb from limb!" exclaimed the necromanceress.

Immediately, the zombies and skeletons surrounded the police chief and began to tear and devour him.

His screams could be heard well outside the police station.

"Well, I think I'm just about done now...there might be a few survivors here and there...but I can always come back later to check." said Chiyoye.

Suffice to say, she was feeling a lot stronger than before. Draining the life from so many people had gone a long way.

Rather than simply teleport out of the city, she decided to go on a walk so that she could admire the consequences of her actions.

She was looking forward to it.

_Well, it looks like Gajeel's part of Fairy Tail now...and of course, the Element 4 are trying to capture Lucy._

_Also, Chiyoye just murdered the police chief...do you feel sorry for him? I know I do...believe it or not, he wasn't a dirty cop. If anything he was just trying to do his job..._

_In the next chapter...well, things are going to get intense once again. I hope you're ready for it!_

_Have a nice day!_


	21. Chapter 21: The Jupiter Cannon

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, well, I'm afraid we're going to have some deaths...why you may ask? Well, you can probably figure out who's responsible. It's not Kenichi...though I'm afraid he's going to show up again soon._

_Oh, and Fairy Tail will be up against the Jupiter Cannon._

**Chapter 21: The Jupiter Cannon**

Monsieur Sol hurled sand into Choji's eyes, hoping that would temporarily blind him.

"Let's see you fight vith some sand in your eyes!" exclaimed Monsieur Sol.

Fortunately, he was able to rub the sand out of his eyes.

Choji then used his Multi-Size Technique to make himself larger.

"Huh...it looks like you've become fatter zan ever..." noted the earth mage.

This naturally made Choji angry, who began trying to crush him with his hands.

"Zat may have backfired on moi..." noted Monsieur Sol as he began to avoid his strikes.

Fortunately for Monsieur Sol, he was able to lift Choji and throw him quite a distance.

"Zis superhuman strength sure is useful. Maybe I should try using ze interdimensional portal again later, non?" noted the earth mage.

He then threw some rocks at Choji, hoping that one of them would hit him in the face.

Immediately, he collapsed on the floor in a heap.

"Ze bigger zhey are, ze harder zhey fall, non?" inquired Monsieur Sol.

Unfortunately for the earth mage, Choji helped himself to his feet and began to try to stomp him.

"I guess you're not down for ze count yet..." answered the mage as he evaded his strikes.

Monsieur Sol realized that he had a problem. Choji was now too large for him to fight effectively.

Personally he could not remember the last time he had to face a giant. Was he going to become the next David?

Suddenly, he had the particular urge to press his hand on the ground.

Doing so, he summoned a giant earth golem.

"Would you look at zat? It looks like I've made a copain today!" exclaimed Monsieur Sol.

Oddly enough, the earth golem was about as large as Choji was at the moment, and was wearing a top hat and a monocle.

"Right zen...keep him busy while I search for ze fraulein!" exclaimed Monsieur Sol.

Immediately, the earth golem began trying to wrestle Choji to the ground.

Monsieur Sol immediately went to search for Lucy Heartfilia while he was distracted.

"I wonder why Jirobo didn't think of that..." thought the wrestler as he began to fight back against the golem.

He was going to have to chase after Monsieur Sol if he managed to defeat that golem.

_Meanwhile..._

Gray immediately started his battle by trying to punch Juvia...

...but as it turned out, he was going to have a hard time facing her hand-to-hand.

Much to her surprise, two arms (that were made of water) appeared above and below her original arm when she attempted to punch Gray.

Likewise, the same happened when she tried to kick him.

As they began to fight, Juvia noticed how attractive Gray looked.

"Isn't he hot..." thought the water mage.

She then remembered that she had a mission to complete.

"Oh, right. I can't let myself get distracted." answered Juvia.

Immediately, she punched Gray three times at once and sent him back a few feet.

"I'm not quite sure how I'm doing this...but I think I'm going to be pretty effective at fist fighting from now on..." thought the water mage.

Unfortunately for Juvia, Gray decided that he wasn't going to try to fistfight her anymore.

Immediately, he created some ice weapons to help him fight back.

"Wow...he happens to be an ice mage...just like I'm a water mage...what a coincidence." thought Juvia.

"I won't let you capture Lucy!" exclaimed Gray, lunging towards Juvia.

"Huh? Right, of course. Drip drop, drip drop." answered the water mage.

"Why do you keep saying drip drop?" asked the ice mage curiously.

"It's a verbal tic." explained Juvia.

"I see..." nodded Gray.

Immediately, she tried to imprison her opponent in a bubble.

However, Gray was able to burst his way out using his ice sword.

He then began to try to freeze her solid.

However, Juvia countered by hitting Gray with a blast of water, causing him to lose concentration and causing the ice to begin to melt.

"I have to admit, we've proven ourselves to be equal opponents so far..." noted the ice mage.

Suddenly, Gray began to take his shirt off, causing Juvia to squeal.

"What?" asked the ice mage.

"Nothing! Nothing! Let's keep fighting! We've both got a mission to complete, do we not?" inquired Juvia.

"Yes, of course." nodded Gray.

Immediately, Juvia resumed trying to punch and kick Gray...though she didn't seem too enthuastic about it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" inquired the ice mage.

"Um..." answered Juvia.

Immediately, Gray summoned some hail to rain on top of Juvia (each of which were about the size of a tennis ball)...but she countered using her umbrella.

"Juvia knew that this umbrella would come in handy one day." answered the water mage.

"I suppose it did." nodded Gray.

_Meanwhile..._

"How did I battle against Tayuya again? He seems to have a similar fighting style..." noted Shikamaru.

"You cannot defeat me! I am much smarter than you are! I plan on becoming a teacher one day" exclaimed Totomaru.

Immediately, the three demons began to shoot fireballs of their respective color at Shikamaru, hoping that one of them would hit.

"I'm rather smart for my age, actually..." answered the shadow ninja.

"Well, I'm still the older man here! You cannot win!" exclaimed Totomaru.

Suddenly, Shikamaru tossed a kunai at his face while he was distracted, which he narrowly dodged.

"You know, every time you say something like that...I get an opportunity to attack you." answered the shadow ninja.

Totomaru scowled.

"Don't interrupt me while I'm talking to you! I'm trying to teach you a lesson in respect!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"You don't have any respect for me..." answered Shikamaru as he prepared a paper bomb.

Immediately, he hit the three demons with the paper bomb, causing them to become momentarily stunned.

He then tried to grab Totomaru's shadow, who began trying to avoid being caught.

He managed to do so, though it wasn't an easy task.

"Ha! Close, but no cigar!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"Yeah yeah yeah...this battle is such a drag..." answered Shikamaru.

"Then why don't you give up then?" inquired Totomaru.

"I've got a girl to save...and besides, she's rather attractive." said the shadow ninja.

"Is she your girlfriend?" asked the fire mage.

Shikamaru's cheeks turned red.

"No...at least, not yet." answered the shadow ninja.

"Keep attacking him! You're bound to hit him eventually!" exclaimed Totomaru.

"Can we reduce him to ashes?!" asked the red demon.

"That's a bit extreme...though I will allow you to burn him." answered the fire mage.

"Good to see you have standards..." noted Shikamaru.

"Can we make him cough and gag?" inquired the yellow demon.

"Why, yes you can..." nodded Totomaru.

Immediately, the yellow demon hit Shikamaru with a yellow fireball, causing him to do so.

"Ugh..." murmured the shadow ninja.

"Can we freeze him?" questioned the blue demon.

"If it will stop him in his tracks, then yes." nodded Totomaru.

Fortunately, Shikamaru was able to continue avoiding their attacks.

"Hold still, why don't you?" inquired the fire mage.

Once again, the shadow ninja tossed another paper bomb, but this time the demons were ready to avoid it.

"I guess they're rather smart...then again, they did learn from an evil genius..." noted Shikamaru.

This time, Totomaru decided to shoot a fireball of his own.

"Consider yourself flunked!" exclaimed the fire mage.

Immediately, he hurled a fireball at Shikamaru, knocking him off his feet and causing him to fall on the forest floor.

"Huh...this is the exact same forest we went into when we went to save Sasuke from the Sound Four...what a coincidence." answered the shadow ninja.

Could it be possibly that the Element 4 had become the interdimensional partners of the Sound Four? That would explain a lot.

Suddenly, the three demons jumped from the forest rooftops towards Shikamaru.

"I guess it's time to finish you three off..." answered the shadow ninja.

"Now we've gotcha!" exclaimed the red demon.

"I suggest that you surrender." answered the blue demon.

"You don't want some of my gas!" exclaimed the yellow demon.

Suddenly, Shikamaru remembered how he typically dealt with enemy summoners.

"Of course..." thought the shadow ninja as he prepared his shadow jutsu.

_Meanwhile..._

Aria immediately started his battle by shooting spider webbing at Natsu, who as before burned it easily.

"Well, I guess I'm going to have to try a different tactic here..." answered the air mage.

Immediately, he turned into vapor and headed deeper into the forest.

"Maybe I could try attacking him from a distance? He does seem to be trying to pummel me with his fists..." noted the man.

He began to create his own kunai using some of his tears.

"I guess being so tearful is actually coming in handy this time." noted Aria.

"Where did he go?" inquired Natsu.

For a moment, he wondered if he had retreated.

"I guess I'll go look for Lucy then. She's waiting for me to be her hero!" answered the fire mage.

Suddenly, Aria tossed one of the kunai he had created at Natsu.

"Never mind." said Natsu.

He then followed by summoning spiders to attack the fire mage, which began to creep him out.

"Oh boy..." murmured the fire mage.

And to make matters worse, unlike Kidomaru's spiders, they had the ability to drain his magic.

Unfortunately, they kept on coming.

"I could do this all day..." spoke Aria.

"Ugh...my magic power...how am I going to fight without it?" questioned the fire mage.

Fortunately, he was able to burn them somewhat easily.

As Aria discovered, he in fact did not have all day. Natsu immediately tossed a fireball at him, which he narrowly avoided.

"How did he find me? I'd like to think I hid myself pretty well." answered the air mage.

Curious, he noticed that Natsu's eyes had mysteriously turned white, and the veins were quickly visible.

In retaliation, he dropped a spider web on top of Natsu.

He immediately tried to free himself with his fire magic...but unfortunately, it appeared that it was draining his magic to prevent that.

However, as he quickly discovered, Natsu had another way to break himself free from the spider webbing.

Immediately, he used his Gentle Fist to cut himself loose.

"I guess I have this to go along with my Byakugan...I wonder if I can use this to defeat Erza..." answered the fire mage.

Of course, he was going to have to defeat Aria first.

Once again, he began to summon another spider...that was somewhat bigger than the ones that he had fought earlier.

"Funny, I was expecting one that was giant..." noted the air mage.

"You'll have to ask my wife for that. She's a lot bigger than I am...then again, she's in a contract with another spider user..." said the male spider.

"Your name is?" inquired Aria.

"Jorogumo...you should be able to use me to drain the magic out of your opponent...just let me latch onto his face." answered Jorogumo.

"Sure." nodded the air mage.

Unsurprisingly, Jorogumo began to do so. He was rather fast.

"Get off me, you facehugger!" screamed Natsu.

Unfortunately, he was able to do exactly what he had told Aria earlier.

"I'm feeling...really tired..." murmured the fire mage.

A tear immediately left Aria's eye.

"This is so wonderful..." thought the air mage.

_Meanwhile..._

Lucy frantically began to look for someone that could help her defeat the Element 4. From what she had seen, her friends could only hold them off for so very long.

But just who should she call for help? Granted, she could probably ask Lady Tsunade...

...but her office was rather far away.

"I might not have enough time to do so..." thought Lucy.

**"Looking for friends, are we? Good luck with that. I'm surprised anyone would want to be friends with you to be honest..." **said the nine-tailed fox.

"Why not?" asked Lucy.

**"Um, I'm not quite sure..." **answered Kurama.

"You need a new insult book." answered the summoner mage.

Kurama sighed. This was so much easier back when he was still in Naruto's body.

At that very moment, she saw the Sand Siblings.

"Bingo!" exclaimed Lucy.

Sure enough, they were busy sparring with each other. Apparently, they didn't stop their training for anything.

Except for a distress call.

"Listen, I need your help! My friends are in danger!" exclaimed the summoner mage.

"Huh?" asked Gaara.

"They're under attack by the Element 4!" bellowed Lucy.

"Are they anything like the Sound Four?" asked Kankuro.

"Well, there are four of them...so yes." nodded the kunoichi.

"Then we should be able to handle them." answered Temari.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Gaara's tailed beast began to laugh.

**"Yes! Go out and spill some blood! I'm looking forward to it! Hahahahaha!" **laughed Shukaku.

"Is there someone laughing?" inquired Lucy.

"You can hear him too?" asked Gaara.

Kurama rolled his eyes. Shukaku was so obnoxious. Why did they have to be related?

"Maybe it has to do with my ability to summon animals...then again, tailed beasts appear to be my speciality." answered Lucy.

**"Got that right." **spoke Kurama.

**"Let's go spill some blood! Just don't let Kurama join in on the action...because quite frankly, he deserves to be sealed! Hohohoho!" **laughed Shukaku.

"Your tailed beast is a psychopath...and a troll." noted Lucy.

"I'm well aware of that." nodded Gaara.

"Good to see you've made a friend..." answered Temari.

"Let's get going. We don't have time to lose." nodded Kankuro.

Immediately, the foursome went to go help their friends.

_Meanwhile..._

"Makarov!" exclaimed Levy.

"What's the matter?" inquired the guildmaster.

"Phantom Lord's using a Jupiter Cannon against us!" bellowed the letter mage.

"What?!" screamed Makarov.

"We're going to get vaporized!" exclaimed Levy.

"We have to stop the cannon! Are you feeling better now that you've recovered from the beating Gajeel inflicted on you?" inquired the man.

"Yes, I have." nodded the letter mage.

"Good! I want you and Team Shadow Gear to destroy that cannon!" exclaimed Makarov.

Immediately, Levy went along with her teammates to stop the cannon.

Sure enough, it was beginning to fire.

Thankfully, Erza was able to intercept the blast using her Adamantite Armor.

However, she was left rather exhausted afterward.

"Erza! Are you OK?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes, I think so...that Jupiter Cannon is strong." noted Erza.

"It sure is..." nodded the genin.

Fortunately, Team Shadow Gear was working on destroying the cannon.

Immediately, Levy began to use some of her letter spells to damage the Jupiter Cannon.

This was followed by Droy and Jet using their magic to damage it as well.

However, the Jupiter Cannon was getting ready to fire for another attack.

"Hurry!" exclaimed Levy.

Jet nodded, and began to attack the Jupiter Cannon even faster.

Once again, the Jupiter Cannon fired a blast at the Fairy Tail base.

This time, Makarov intercepted the blast with his new Titan form.

However, Naruto got the feeling that he wouldn't be able to endure those blasts for long.

Nonetheless, he seemed a lot stronger than before now that Tsunade had made him younger.

"Hooray for Grandma Tsunade!" cheered Naruto.

At that very moment, they heard an explosion.

Team Shadow Gear had successfully destroyed the Jupiter Cannon.

"We did it!" exclaimed Levy.

"That'll teach them to beat us up..." answered Droy.

Gajeel rubbed his hand behind his head.

"Should we tell Master Jose that we're coming for him next?" inquired Jet.

"Perhaps." nodded Levy.

_Meanwhile..._

"Well, that earth golem wasn't as tough as he looked...but what why is he wearing a top hat and a monocle?" questioned Choji.

Immediately, the earth golem began to dissolve into mud.

"Now all that's left now is the French mage himself..." answered Choji.

Shrugging, he decided to resume his search for Monsieur Sol.

"Madame Lucy? Vhere are you?" inquired the earth mage.

Curious, he began to wonder if he should try searching for his comrades as well.

However, he could not seem to find any of them.

"Vhere did zhey all wonder off to?" inquired Monsieur Sol.

At that very moment, Choji began to attack him again.

"Sacre bleu! You defeated my earth golem!" bellowed the earth mage.

"Yes, I did." nodded Choji.

"No matter. It is time for my trump card! You've asked for zis, gros garcon!" exclaimed Monsieur Sol.

"You said I was a fat boy in French, didn't you?" inquired Choji.

The earth mage nodded.

Immediately, Choji lunged towards Monsieur Sol.

However, he quickly found himself unable to move.

Curious, he looked down, and discovered that he was slowly turning to stone, causing him to scream.

"Hahaha! In just a few minutes from now, you shall become a living statue! Bonjour, gros garcon!" exclaimed Monsieur Sol.

"What am I going to do?" asked Choji.

To add insult to injury, he was now experiencing hallucinations where people that he knew called him fat.

"This is the worst mission ever..." answered the fat boy.

"Right zhen...let's just sit back and watch ze show..." spoke Monsieur Sol.

_Meanwhile..._

At this point, Gray and Juvia were both feeling rather exhausted. For a while now they had been trading blow from blow, without too much success.

Eventually, Gray decided to give it his all in one last attack.

Immediately, he placed ice over his forearms...

...and made some enormous ice blades.

"Oh boy..." murmured Juvia.

He then followed by using his ice blades to slash Juvia seven times...

...only for her to counter with a Rashomon gate, much to both mages' surprise.

Oddly enough, unlike Sakon and Ukon's Rashomon gate, the gate was blue and had a picture of what appeared to be an Atlantean king on it.

"Look at the size of that thing..." murmured Gray.

As soon as Gray slashed for the seventh time, the Rashomon gate collapsed. Both combatants were left heavily exhausted.

"You know...maybe we could try to compromise...maybe we could sign a peace treaty between our guilds..." answered Juvia.

"I don't think Master Jose is going to do that..." spoke Gray.

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" inquired the water mage.

"I suppose..." answered the ice mage.

"What is your name?" asked Juvia.

"It's Gray...your name is Juvia, is it not?" inquired Gray.

Juvia nodded.

"Pleased to meet you." said the ice mage.

However, at that very moment, something unexpected happened.

"I'm going to kill you!" exclaimed a voice.

"Huh?" asked Gray.

Suddenly, a throwing spear pierced the ice mage through the abdomen.

"Gah!" bellowed the ice mage.

"Gray!" screamed Juvia.

As it turned out, it was none other than Takeshi. He apparently wanted revenge on Gray for the way he had treated him earlier.

Suddenly, much to her surprise, she began stuffing Gray inside her body.

"What are y-"

Gray's injuries then began to gradually heal.

"How are you doing this?" asked the ice mage.

"I don't know...I've never done this before." answered Juvia.

"Well, at least it appears to be a decent healing technique...I'm not too comfortable about being in another person's body though..." spoke Gray.

"At least we can get healed, right?" inquired the water mage.

Suddenly, Takeshi punched Juvia in the face.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Juvia and Gray in unison.

Unfortunately, it appeared that any damage that Juvia suffered while Gray was still in her body would affect him as well.

And since Gray was still healing, he was going to have to remain in Juvia's body so that he could recover.

"I'm going to kill you too!" bellowed Takeshi, pulling out an axe.

And to make matters worse, Juvia was still exhausted from her battle with Gray, and vice versa. They didn't have any real way of defending themselves.

Finally, Takeshi could now create shadow clones of himself.

"We're going to kill you!" bellowed the shadow clones in unison.

Immediately, Juvia began to flee, transforming herself into water along with Gray.

Thankfully, there was a river nearby that they could use to hide themselves.

Of course, Takeshi was going to be rather persistent in pursuing them.

Immediately, he pulled out a chainsaw.

"Here I come!" exclaimed the psychopath.

_Meanwhile..._

"You're outnumbered! Surrender!" bellowed Totomaru.

"Actually, I think you're outnumbered now." answered Shikamaru.

"Huh?" inquired the fire mage.

Suddenly, the three demons began to toss fireballs at him instead.

"Why are you betraying me?!" exclaimed the Phantom Lord mage.

As it turned out, Shikamaru had used his shadow technique to turn the three demons against their master.

"We're sorry, master! We can't control ourselves!" bellowed the red demon.

"What did he do to us?" asked the yellow demon.

"This might be the end of line for you." noted the blue demon.

"Is there any way I can dismiss you three? I'd really appreciate it right about now..." answered Totomaru as he narrowly avoided the fireballs.

"Try performing a hand seal." suggested the blue demon.

Totomaru nodded, and the three demons disappeared.

"Well then...I guess it's just you and I! It's time for you to face the music!" exclaimed Totomaru.

Immediately, he began to play music on his flute.

Shikamaru covered his ears, knowing what he was trying to do.

"You can't cover your ears forever..." noted Totomaru as he continued playing.

Suddenly, Shikamaru latched onto his shadow.

"Huh?" inquired the fire mage.

He then proceeded to try to strangle him with his shadow jutsu.

Unfortunately for Shikamaru, Totomaru managed to break free, and this time, he successfully trapped the shadow ninja in his genjutsu.

Oddly enough, the chains surrounding his body happened to be red, blue, and yellow in color to go along with Totomaru's rainbow theme.

Totomaru then walked up to Shikamaru.

"See? What did I tell you? You cannot defeat me! I'm a much older man than you are!" exclaimed Totomaru.

Suddenly, Shikamaru grabbed him by the shadow once more.

"What?" inquired the fire mage.

"I broke my finger with my shadow jutsu...again." answered the shadow ninja.

Once again, Shikamaru began to try to strangle Totomaru.

"Just a few more feet before I can reach your neck..." said the teenage boy.

Totomaru gulped.

_Meanwhile..._

Fortunately for Natsu, he was able to defeat the male spider without getting too much magic out of him.

Nonetheless, he was starting to feel tired. This battle was starting to take his toll on him.

Then again, he had been fighting Aria for a while now.

"This magic absorption ability of his is going to be the death of me..." murmured Natsu.

Suddenly, Aria began to create a bow and arrow to attack him with.

"Let's see if I can hit him in the head..." spoke the air mage.

Unfortunately, he missed...because of a tree.

Aria facepalmed.

Fortunately, he had a way to counter that. He immediately blew away the trees in the area (with the exception of the one he was standing on), causing one to nearly fall on Natsu as he did so.

"Look what you did to the environment!" screamed Natsu. Despite being a fire user, he hated it when someone chopped down a forest just for a thrill.

Immediately, Aria began to cry.

"It's OK...I'm sure that we can undo the damage eventually...though admittedly it will take a long time." answered the fire mage.

Unfortunately, as it turned out...he was using his tears to make an even bigger arrow.

"Uh-oh..." murmured Natsu.

Immediately, he found himself pierced in the shoulder.

"Gah!" screamed the fire mage.

Aria began to cry once again.

He then followed up by hitting Natsu with an airspace, causing him to collapse on the floor.

"My magic...ugh..." answered the fire mage.

Unfortunately, without his magic, he did not have the ability to use fire.

And to make matters worse, his Byakugan had used up much of his chakra.

Aria at this point was about to cry his head off. His airspace had worked! It looked like had won today.

"Well, now to get the girl." said the air mage.

Immediately, he left to go search for Lucy, leaving Natsu behind.

"Surely she can't be too far from here..." noted Aria.

As he did so, he failed to notice that Natsu was slowly flaring up again.

_Meanwhile..._

Chiyoye happily admired the results of her actions. It appeared that there were no survivors.

"I guess it's time for me to leave and-"

Suddenly, she noticed that there were four people that she had not caught yet.

By the looks of it, they were rather powerful...and yet very young.

Chiyoye smiled. These were the exact kind of victims that she wanted!

Immediately, she began to approach them.

"Just a few more minutes until we can get Kimimaro to assist us..." noted Sakon.

"Finally! This is taking forever!" exclaimed Tayuya.

"I'm bored..." answered Kidomaru.

"I'm hungry..." murmured Jirobo.

Suddenly, they noticed Chiyoye was standing a few feet away from them. They immediately began to raise their eyebrows.

"Huh? What do you want?" inquired Sakon.

"Can't you see we're busy?!" exclaimed Tayuya.

Kidomaru scratched his head. What was she doing here?

Immediately, a black fireball appeared in her hand.

She then tossed it at the Sound Four, causing them to jump out of the way.

"Picking a fight with us? Big mistake." answered Jirobo.

Immediately, the four began to activate the second stage of their cursed seals.

As they did so, Chiyoye began to smile.

"Perfect...they're even stronger than I thought." said the necromanceress.

Immediately, she began to cast another spell.

"How about some lightning!" exclaimed Chiyoye, charging electricity in her hands.

She then launched the electricity at the four once again.

"Hmm...it seems that she's stronger than she looks..." noted Sakon.

"Oh well! More fun for us!" exclaimed Kidomaru.

"Yes...more fun..." answered Tayuya.

_Meanwhile..._

"You'll look lovely as a statue! I'm going to put you in ze center of my garden!" exclaimed Monsieur Sol.

"Oh no..." murmured Choji.

At this point, he was almost completely transformed.

"Bonjour!" exclaimed Monsieur Sol.

However, at that very moment, Gaara suddenly attacked him.

"What in ze world?!" exclaimed Monsieur Sol.

Fortunately, this caused Choji to turn back to normal.

"Thanks for help..." answered the Akimichi clan member.

Immediately, Gaara then followed with a sand tidal wave.

"Aah!" screamed the sand mage.

He promptly began to retreat. Apparently, he did not want to deal with a sand user that powerful.

"Where is he going?" inquired Gaara.

"Back to his master, I suppose." answered Choji.

"You think we'll be ready if he comes back?" asked the sand ninja.

"I imagine so." nodded the Akimichi clan member.

**"Wasn't he a coward?" **inquired Shukaku.

"Yes, he was." answered Gaara.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Choji.

"Oh, just my tailed beast...he's been living inside me forever..." spoke the sand ninja.

"Oh, right. Of course." nodded the chubby teenager.

"Oddly enough I just met a girl that can understand what my tailed beast is saying...then again, she happens to have a tailed beast as well, so maybe that's not too surprising." answered Gaara.

"Did you now?" inquired Choji.

"Yes...speaking of which, I don't think she's too far from me...she wanted to help Shikamaru, I believe." answered Gaara.

"That's awfully sweet of her..." noted the chubby boy.

"Well, I guess we can get going now...they're not going to try capturing Lucy again if Tsunade has anything to say about it." answered Gaara.

"Yes, of course!" nodded Choji.

"There's a fast food restaurant right over there." said the sand ninja, pointing to the right.

Choji happily went to go eat some fast food to support his jutsu.

_Meanwhile..._

Unfortunately for Juvia, she wasn't able to get too far before collapsing from exhaustion. She had used up most of her magic power during her battle with Gray.

"Did we...lose him?" inquired Juvia.

"I...think so." answered Gray.

"I'm going to kill you!" exclaimed Takeshi, jumping from a nearby bush.

"Never mind." spoke Gray.

Fortunately, at that very moment, someone showed up to bail the duo out of their current situation.

It was none other than Kankuro, who was wielding his puppets.

Immediately, he trapped Takeshi inside the Black Ant.

Juvia and Gray let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness...he was about to kill us..." said the water mage.

"I could see that." nodded Kankuro.

"Let me out and I'll kill you!" screamed Takeshi.

"Don't you mean or?" asked Gray.

"Let me out or I'll kill you!" bellowed the psychopath.

"That's better." answered Kankuro.

"What should we do with him?" asked Juvia.

"I say we take him to jail where he belongs..." suggested Gray.

"Alright then." nodded the puppetmaster.

Immediately, Kankuro began to take Takeshi (along with Juvia and Gray) back to Konoha.

"Wait, wasn't there supposed to be only one of you? I don't remember Lucy telling us about there being a duo..." said Kankuro.

"She saved my life...so I owe her a life debt." answered the ice mage.

"Yes, it's true..." nodded Juvia as she released Gray from her body.

"Wait, are you still part of Phantom Lord?" inquired Gray.

Juvia raised an eyebrow. It looked like she had a decision to make.

After much deliberation...

...she decided that she wanted to join the Konoha forces. They did save her life, didn't they? Just like she managed to save Gray.

She should really try returning the favor.

"I think it's time for me to take a career change...I hope that the rest of the Element 4 don't mind..." answered Juvia.

"Phantom Lord's probably going to get disbanded anyway...I don't think that the wizard council is going to be too happy with them for what they did to our guild." spoke Gray.

"True..." nodded the water mage.

Immediately, the trio headed towards Konoha.

_Meanwhile..._

Unfortunately for Shikamaru, he once again did not have the chakra to complete the shadow strangle jutsu.

Gradually, it began to wear off.

"Not again..." murmured the shadow ninja.

Was someone going to save him again? He had to admit, he might not be so lucky this time.

Fortunately, as it turned out, there was somebody ready to help him.

However, it wasn't who he was expecting.

"Lucy, is that you?" inquired Shikamaru.

Totomaru gasped. It was none other than the girl that he wanted to capture.

"Well, since you were the one that assembled a rescue team to save my skin...I decided to assemble a rescue team of my own..." answered Lucy.

"Did you now?" asked the shadow ninja.

"I figured you needed some help dealing with these four...so I brought some friends!" exclaimed the summoner mage.

"I see." nodded the teen genius.

"Since you were the leader of the rescue team...I figured I'd give you a hand..." said Lucy.

Suddenly, Shikamaru noticed that Lucy was wearing her pink tube top and shorts again.

"What happened to your ninja outfit?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"Oh, that? It's at the cleaners at the moment..." explained Lucy.

Curious, she noticed that Shikamaru was staring at her torso when she said that.

Immediately, she began to summon some beavers to help attack Totomaru.

However, much to her surprise, rather than attack the fire mage, they instead dropped a tree on top of him.

The tree immediately crushed Totomaru as he screamed in horror.

"That works too, I suppose." answered Lucy.

"So, you want to go back home now?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Lead the way." nodded the summoner mage.

Immediately, Shikamaru lead Lucy out of the forest.

As they did so, they failed to notice Totomaru limping his way towards the interdimensional portal.

_Meanwhile..._

Aria happily searched the forest, hoping that he would find Lucy...

...only to find Temari instead.

"Can I help you?" inquired the air mage.

Temari immediately pulled out her fan.

"Huh?" asked Aria.

Immediately, she began to blow Aria away.

In retaliation, he hit Temari with an airspace...

...but due to the fact that she was a ninja rather than a mage, this didn't hurt her too much.

"Funny...I was expecting that attack to do a bit more..." answered Temari.

Aria let out a sigh. It usually worked on mages.

Once again, she began to blow Aria away.

This time, he decided to retreat back to the interdimensional portal. He wasn't liking his chances against Temari, considering that she was resistant to his airspaces.

She then went to help Natsu, who was still recovering from his battle earlier.

"Are you OK?" asked Temari.

"Yes, I am." nodded Natsu as he helped himself to his feet.

"A friend of yours wanted me to check on you." explained the wind user.

"Was it Lucy?" inquired Natsu.

"Yes, it was. Why do you ask?" inquired Temari.

"Hooray for Lucy!" cheered the fire mage.

"Yes...hooray for Lucy, I suppose." nodded the sand sibling.

Immediately, she escorted Natsu back to Konoha.

"Are we all done here?" thought the fire mage.

Hopefully they would be able to wrap things up...it had been a rather long day.

But at least they managed to rescue Lucy...and she had managed to rescue them in return.

Nonetheless, he got the feeling that he was going to have to face stronger opponents in the near future.

Then again, he did like a challenge...though admittedly it would still take some time before he regained all of his self-confidence.

Until then, he was simply content to relax.

_Meanwhile..._

Jirobo tossed a boulder at Chiyoye, who narrowly avoided it.

This was then followed by Kidomaru shooting spider webbing, which she avoided as well.

Tayuya began to sing, but she covered her ears.

Shrugging, Jirobo and Sakon & Ukon decided to lunge towards her, hoping that they could beat her into submission with their bare hands.

This would prove to be their last mistake.

Suddenly, Chiyoye grabbed onto them by their arms.

"Hmm?" inquired Jirobo.

"What are you-" asked Sakon.

Immediately, Chiyoye began to drain the life out of them, causing them to scream in pain and revert back to their original forms in the process.

She then let go of their arms, causing their bodies to collapse on the floor.

"Jirobo!" screamed Tayuya.

"Sakon and Ukon!" bellowed Kidomaru.

Chiyoye began to approach them as well.

"What do we do?" asked the spider man.

"Keep shooting! Finish what we started!" ordered Tayuya.

Tayuya and Kidomaru began to attack Chiyoye once more.

Suddenly, she stopped walking towards them, and stretched out her hand in front of her.

"Huh?" asked Kidomaru.

"What is she doing?" inquired Tayuya.

Suddenly, Kidomaru felt something grab his ankle. He looked down, and screamed in horror.

A horde of zombies was emerging from the ground!

Unfortunately, it was already too late for him and Tayuya. The zombies immediately began to devour their flesh, causing them to scream in pain and in terror as they began to revert back to their original forms, much like Jirobo and Sakon & Ukon before them.

"Ha! That was too easy!" exclaimed Chiyoye.

Nonetheless, she was feeling much stronger than before.

"Well, I won't have to worry so much about Fairy Tail anymore..." noted the mage.

Once again, she began to take her leave.

_Meanwhile..._

Levy got back from her mission to destroy the Jupiter Cannon. She was rather satisfied as to how well it had gone.

However, she suddenly noticed that Mirajane had a rather worried look on her face.

"Is something the matter?" inquired the letter mage.

"Chiyoye just received a drastic power boost!" exclaimed Mirajane.

"What?" asked Levy.

Curious, she looked into the crystal ball indicating Chiyoye's power...and discovered that the mana had turned green.

She immediately turned to the crystal ball guide, and discovered that the mana was color-coded for their convenience.

Apparently, Chiyoye had moved up a level when it came to magic.

"This isn't good..." murmured the letter mage.

Hopefully, she could be stopped before the mana in the crystal ball changed color again. According to the guide, yellow was up next.

If the mana in that crystal ball turned black, then not even the entirety of Fairy Tail may be enough to stop her.

"We need to catch her fast!" exclaimed Levy.

Immediately, she began to wonder where she had gotten such a significant power boost. Granted, she was probably harvesting innocent people like cattle as she pondered, but it seemed rather sudden.

Sighing, she decided to turn back to the matter at hand.

"We have to stop Phantom Lord at all costs!" exclaimed Levy.

Immediately, she went to reenter the battlefield.

_Oh no! Chiyoye has successfully slain the Sound Four and has inherited their abilities! She's going to be a lot stronger from now on...I can tell you that._

_But do you remember who they were summoning? Hopefully, he will be able to stop Chiyoye from slaying anyone else._

_In the next chapter, there's going to be more bloodshed...I'm sorry to say. This time, Kenichi is going to be responsible._


	22. Chapter 22: Fall Of Phantom Lord

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, we're going to see the end of Phantom Lord...as something bad is going to happen to the remaining Element 4 members..._

_Oh, and Kimimaro is going to be dueling Chiyoye. I hope you enjoy!_

**Chapter 22: Fall Of Phantom Lord**

Totomaru, Monsieur Sol, and Aria were all very unhappy. They had failed in their mission...not only that, they did not where Juvia was.

Where had she gone?

Aria began to cry.

"It looks like we're going to have to tell our master the bad news." noted Aria.

"Zis vas a disaster..." noted Monsieur Sol.

"Are we going to make it out in one piece after we go talk to him?" inquired Totomaru.

"Probably not." nodded Aria.

However, at that very moment, they began to hear the sounds of wings flapping.

"Huh? Is that you?" asked Totomaru.

"It is not moi." answered Monsieur Sol.

"It's not me either." spoke Aria.

Curious, they noticed that there was a shadow on the ground. Apparently, whoever that was was above them.

They looked up, and gasped in surprise.

It was a man riding a dragon.

As it turned out, the man riding the dragon had noticed them as well.

It was none other than Kenichi.

Immediately, he began to scan the trio with his Rinnegan.

Much to his surprise, he found that they had an energy source other than chakra flowing inside them.

"Interesting..." thought the ninja. He had never seen this before.

However, from what he could tell, they were still far less powerful than himself...

...and he launched his attack.

Immediately, Kaishi began to breathe fire as he flew towards the trio, burning the landscape in the process.

"Run!" bellowed Totomaru.

Fortunately for Monsieur Sol and Aria, they were able to avoid the dragon's breath.

Unfortunately for Totomaru, the dragon was too fast for him, and he was caught in his fire breath.

"Aah!" screamed Totomaru as he was burned alive.

"Totomaru!" bellowed Aria.

"I can't believe zis...he killed him!" bellowed Monsieur Sol.

This was then followed by Kenichi lowering his dragon so that he could devour Monsieur Sol.

Desperate, he used his earth dome technique to try to protect himself.

Unfortuantely, Kenichi was able to cut directly through the front of the dome even with its regeneration abilities intact with his metallic claw, forcing Monsieur Sol to dispel the jutsu.

This was then followed by Kaishi devouring him as he screamed in horror.

Aria gasped in shock. In just a few minutes, this mysterious man had already wiped out two of his comrades!

Getting desperate, he removed his blindfold and began to attack Kenichi with some airspaces.

If Kenichi were a mage, this likely would have killed him right then and there.

Unfortunately for Aria, due to the fact that Kenichi was a ninja, this did not hurt him much, though this did knock him off his dragon.

Scowling at the air mage, he approached him...

...and ripped him in half at the waist. Blood leaked out of his mouth as he perished.

"I have to wonder...what exactly did they have? They had a source of power that I was not familiar with..." noted Kenichi.

Suddenly, he noticed that there was a portal nearby...that apparently lead to another world.

"Interesting..." spoke the ninja.

Curious, he began to enter the portal. Hopefully he would be able to find more victims there.

Personally, he was a bit surprised that there was more than one world in the universe...but no matter. It was originally his mission to rid the world of the weak...but he was perfectly happy to purge them both.

However, he was quickly noticed by Master Jose, who at that point was starting to wonder what was taking the Element 4 so long.

"Hmm? Are they coming back now?" inquired the master.

Immediately, he began to feel rather enthuastic.

However, Boze and Sue did not share this enthusiasm.

In fact, they seemed rather worried. They sensed something...evil emerging from the portal.

"Close the portal!" demanded Boze.

"What? But the Element 4 are finally returning! Why should we close the portal now?" inquired Master Jose.

"It's not the Element 4! It's something horrific! I don't want it anywhere near us!" screamed Sue.

Curious, he noticed that there was a claw emerging from the portal...and realized that he was right.

"Fine! No need to panic..." answered Master Jose as he began to close the portal.

To make a long story short, Kenichi was ejected from the interdimensional portal and found himself back in the world of ninja.

"I might have to search for another one of these...this other world intrigues me." noted the ninja.

For now, he decided that he should continue what he started. He was about to head to another clan to eradicate it, anyway.

Immediately, he leaped back onto his dragon and flew into the sky.

As he did so, he began to flashback to the first clan he had killed, which was his own.

_"Isn't this great, brother?" inquired Ayumu._

_As it turned out, they had both gone into the wilderness so that they could spend some time together._

_His parents, as it turned out, had left him alone with him so that they could spent some quality bonding._

_However, Kenichi had another idea in mind._

_"Huh? Is something the matter, brother?" inquired Ayumu._

_Immediately, he raised a kunai above his head._

_"Brother, what are you doing? Stop!" exclaimed the boy._

_Immediately, he began to stab his brother to death with the kunai._

_"You don't belong in this world, brother. I can't believe we're even related! Why am I even calling you brother? Consider our family tree weeded." spoke the teenager._

_"Brot...her..." murmured Ayumu as he passed away._

_Kenichi began to chuckle. His useless brother was finally gone!_

_Surely nobody would miss him, right? From what he recalled, his clan liked making fun of him._

_Wiping the blood off from the kunai, he threw it in the trash._

_"There...hopefully now nobody will know who did this to him..." answered Kenichi._

_Of course, they were inevitably going to discover the body._

_Meanwhile..._

As Chiyoye was getting ready to leave, she suddenly noticed that someone else was there.

"Hmm?" inquired the necromanceress.

As it turned out, Kimimaro had been successfully summoned.

"Yes? You rang?" inquired the Kaguya clan member.

Curious, he looked around, and gasped in shock.

The Sound Four had been completely wiped out!

"What the hell happened here?!" exclaimed Kimimaro.

"Admiring my handiwork?" inquired Chiyoye.

Kimimaro gasped in shock.

Curious, he turned around, and discovered who had done this to his squad.

"You...you did this?" asked the bone ninja.

He had to admit...despite the people that he had killed in the name of Orochimaru...he still felt somewhat sickened by what had happened to them.

"Yes, you heard me correctly. And you're next." answered Chiyoye.

At that very moment, the sorceress approached him and grabbed him by the chest before he could react.

However, she then realized something, and suddenly let go.

"What's this? It appears that you have a terminal illness." spoke Chiyoye.

"Yes...I've had it for quite some time now...it actually almost killed me once." nodded Kimimaro.

"Well then...I'm sorry to say it, but I won't be able to drain the life out of you then. Wouldn't want that in my bloodstream." answered the necromanceress.

"Wait, what?" inquired the bone ninja.

"No matter. I guess I'll just test out my new abilities on you and be on it." answered Chiyoye.

"Your new abilities?" asked the last member of the Kaguya clan.

"Thanks to my life-draining ability, I've managed to inherit the abilities of your deceased friends...I have to admit, they're quite a display." spoke the sorceress.

"You killed them just so you could make yourself more powerful?!" exclaimed Kimimaro.

"As a matter of fact, yes I did...and they weren't my first victims, I can tell you that." answered Chiyoye.

"Who were your first victims?" inquired Kimimaro.

"My own village..." spoke the sorceress.

"What?!" exclaimed the bone ninja.

_"I can't believe so many people have gone missing lately..." answered Chiyoye's father._

_"What could have happened to them?" inquired Chiyoye's mother._

_"If this keeps up, we might have to pack up and move out of town..." noted the man._

_"I sure hope that it doesn't come to that...are the police investigating the disappearances?" inquired the woman._

_"They are, but they're starting to disappear too...and there doesn't seem to any real pattern in the disappearances...it's as if they're targetting everyone in town..." spoke Chiyoye's father._

_"I heard that many of these victims have been eaten...when did this start again?" answered Chiyoye's mother._

_"About three years ago." explained the man._

_As they continued discussing the subject, they failed to notice that Chiyoye was listening in with her ear next to the wall._

_She began to giggle. Nobody suspected that she was responsible for the disappearances...not even her own parents!_

_Granted, killing the gravedigger was rather satisfying, but she had eventually decided that she should do more than that. She wanted to do it again...and again...and again._

_And so she did. She was feeling very excited indeed. She was actually having a hard time sleeping._

_Here she was, a seven-year-girl...and already she had killed no less than a dozen victims._

_And to make things even better, she was getting better at necromancy all the time._

_Soon she would be able to create her own army of zombies._

_But she wasn't looking forward to having to move away. Maybe she should lay low for a bit and let things quiet down before she struck again? That way she could continue her killing spree uninterrupted._

_Then again, if she moved away, she would be able to find more people to kill._

_Oddly, she recalled an incident where she had ended up draining the life from a man by touching him...it made her feel much stronger._

_Maybe she should try that again sometime?_

_At that very moment, she began to go to bed._

_"I'm looking forward to tomorrow!" exclaimed Chiyoye._

"You're sick..." answered Kimimaro.

"I could say the same to you...heh heh." spoke Chiyoye.

Immediately, he pulled a bone out of his torso and began to use it as a sword.

"Mission or no mission, I cannot allow you to kill any more people!" exclaimed Kimimaro.

"You're trying to stop me? I was going to kill you anyway, so I suppose you might as well." answered Chiyoye.

Immediately, she summoned a boulder and began to fling it towards the bone ninja.

Thankfully, he was able to smash it into rubble before it could cause him physical harm.

She then followed by summoning an earth golem.

As she did so, she decided to use her magic to twist it to her liking.

As Kimimaro discovered, the golem was now made of obsidian instead of earth.

"There! Now it's stronger than ever..." answered Chiyoye.

Immediately, she used the obsidian golem to attack Kimimaro.

Fortunately, he was able to destroy it somewhat easily.

However, Chiyoye did not seem too phased.

"Not bad! I had to admit, those friends of you were a big disappointment...I slew them easily." noted the sorceress.

"I'll have you know that I'm stronger than the four of them combined." answered Kimimaro.

"Are you now? Good, I want a challenge for a change...destroying this town was so easily that it actually got boring after a while...the most fun I had was with that police chief." spoke Chiyoye.

Immediately, she began to wrap up the bone ninja with spider webbing...which he cut through somewhat easily by producing bones from his body.

She also tried shooting him with a bow and arrow, but he avoided it by several inches.

"Let's try another summon..." answered Chiyoye.

Pressing her hand on the ground, she summoned another creature.

This time, it was Kyodaigumo...who seemed rather surprised that Kidomaru did not summon her.

Once again, she decided to give her new summon an upgrade.

Immediately, what appeared to be a deadly poison began to flow through her mandibles.

"You had better not get bitten...it's not going to end well if you do, I can promise you that..." answered the sorceress.

Fortunately for Kimimaro, he did not get bitten, and he was able to slay the giant spider with his sword.

"Alright then...let's just another summon." said Chiyoye.

This time, she summoned her three Doki, who like Kyodaigumo seemed rather surprised at the occurrence.

"What happened to our old mistress?" inquired one of the Doki.

"Your old mistress is dead now. I am your new mistress." explained Chiyoye.

The three Doki scratched their heads.

Once again, Chiyoye used her magic to give them an upgrade. Immediately, she wrapped them up in bandages, causing them to resemble mummies.

"There we go! This should help protect you from his sword strikes...they're perfectly regenerable..." answered the sorceress.

However, Kimimaro was still able to defeat the Doki even with this upgrade.

She then followed by summoning a flute to use Tayuya's genjutsu, but Kimimaro knocked it out of her hand.

"There's just one of your friend's abilities left to try out..." answered Chiyoye.

Immediately, she began to lunge towards Kimimaro with her fist, creating two more arms made of decaying flesh in the process.

However, Kimimaro produced spikes from his body, forcing her to stay back.

"You have a counter for everything, don't you? Alright then...why don't you try attacking for a change?" inquired Chiyoye.

Immediately, Kimimaro lunged towards Chiyoye with her sword, which she blocked using her Rashomon.

She strengthened the metal gate with her magic in the process, causing an enormous skull to appear on it.

However, Kimimaro still destroyed it afterward.

He then swung his sword at Chiyoye, only for her to teleport away.

"Well well well. It looks like the abilities of your friends aren't going to be enough for me to take you down. No matter, I've also been dying to test out these new spells in my spellbook." spoke the sorceress.

"Spellbook?" thought Kimimaro. Where was he?

Immediately, she began to attack Kimimaro with lightning, followed by some fireballs, both of which he avoided.

However, she then followed by summoning a giant, decaying hand to grab onto Kimimaro.

This time, he barely avoided that attack.

"Heh heh heh...once I get strong enough, I'll be able to summon the entire zombie! And what a big zombie he will be..." answered Chiyoye.

Kimimaro began to feel rather nervous. That hand was rather large enough as it was.

Realizing that he was facing a dangerous opponent, he began to activate the first stage of his cursed seal.

"Funny...that's what your friends did when they fought against me...it didn't do them any favors! Ha!" exclaimed Chiyoye.

Kimimaro began to growl at the sorceress. The more he spoke to her, the more repulsed of her she became.

Personally, he was starting to consider her to be the worst person that he had ever met.

Then again, considering how much she loved to kill others, that wasn't much of a surprise.

"Let's see how you deal with some of my friends, shall we?" inquired Chiyoye.

Immediately, she began to summon some zombies to attack Kimimaro.

Frantically, he began trying to cut them away with his swords. Fortunately, as he knew from experience, he was capable of holding his own against many opponents at once.

However, they did not simply disappear in one hit as was the case with Naruto's clones. They in fact were rather resistant to damage, and they kept on coming towards him.

And to make matters worse, Chiyoye was summoning more undead to assist her.

"This is going to be a long fight." he thought.

Immediately, he lunged towards the zombies.

Chiyoye had to be stopped...

...no matter the cost.

_Meanwhile..._

"Who was that?" inquired Master Jose. He had to admit, he was mildly disturbed by the evil energy that he had sensed when that mysterious entity started emerging from the interdimensional portal.

Curious, he noticed that blood had leaked from the interdimensional portal in the process. Apparently, it had killed someone a few minutes ago.

But it was gone now. He had nothing to worry about, and he could continue his attack on Fairy Tail interrupted.

"Is there any particular reason you're here?" inquired the magician.

"The Jupiter Cannon has been destroyed!" exclaimed Boze.

"Team Shadow Gear destroyed it in retaliation for you having them beaten earlier..." explained Sue.

"What?! Impossible!" bellowed Master Jose.

"Yes...what do you want us to do now? Personally I think we should surre-"

Boze was suddenly interrupted.

"We are not surrendering!" exclaimed the shadow mage.

"What? Don't you think this has gone on long e-"

Sue was suddenly interrupted as well.

"I will not rest until Fairy Tail is destroyed! It is time for us to bring out our ultimate weapon!" bellowed Master Jose.

"Our ultimate weapon?" inquired Boze.

"You know the one." answered the shadow mage.

"Oh right...we're going to transform our guild base into a giant...wait, don't we need the Element 4 to do that?" questioned Sue.

"We don't need anyone else. I'm going to manage the giant myself!" exclaimed Master Jose.

"Really? You've never done so before..." answered the male mage.

"There's a first time for everything." answered the leader of Phantom Lord.

Immediately, the guild base began to transform into a mecha.

"Let's see Fairy Tail try to stop me now!" exclaimed Master Jose.

"Right, of course..." nodded Sue.

"Of course..." answered Boze nervously.

Immediately, the Phantom Lord mages exited the guild hall for their last stand against Fairy Tail, Boze and Sue included.

"It's a shame that I never managed to get my hands on the girl...but no matter! That was just going to be the icing on the cake...and I can always try again later." answered Master Jose.

He began to direct the giant towards the Fairy Tail guild base.

_Meanwhile..._

"Thank goodness that Jupiter Cannon got destroyed...I didn't want it to hurt anyone here..." answered Naruto.

Erza let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you going to be OK, Erza? That cannon really took the breath of you." noted the genin.

"I think I'll be fine, thank you." answered Erza as she helped herself to her feet.

Immediately, she began to change back to her normal clothes.

"Do you think it's over?" inquired Naruto.

"I'm not sure that they'll be able to keep fighting after that...so yes." nodded Erza.

"Really? You sure?" asked the genin.

"Well, we have some lookouts just in case." answered Erza.

Immediately, she pointed towards Alzack and Bisca.

"I see that we're still recruiting..." noted Naruto.

"Yes, we are." nodded the knight.

Immediately, the genin pulled out a book.

"What is that?" inquired Erza.

"Oh, it's a book my master Jiraiya wrote...he said that he wanted me to have one of these...even though I'm not really into erotic novels. He even autographed mine." answered Naruto.

"Did you say erotic?" asked the knight.

"Yes, why do you ask?" inquired Naruto.

"Mind if I have that book for a few minutes?" asked Erza.

"Um, sure." nodded the genin as he handed the book to his friend.

"Wow...this book is great...is this part of a series?" answered the knight as she flipped through the pages.

"It sure is." nodded Naruto.

"If we ever get the interdimensional portal running again...you should show me where I could get those sometime..." answered Erza.

"Really? I didn't know you were a fan of novels like these..." noted the genin.

"I guess it can be just between us...though Lucy already knows about it..." spoke Erza.

"While you're at it, you might want to introduce yourself to Jiraiya...he really likes attractive females...he might give you his autograph too." noted Naruto.

"You think he'll like my seductress armor?" asked Erza.

Naruto's face turned red.

"Um...of course he will! I know that he loves my Sexy Jutsu..." exclaimed the genin.

"I imagine he would." nodded Erza.

Immediately, Naruto left Erza alone to continue reading the novel.

"Aren't they a cute couple?" thought the knight.

_Meanwhile..._

Gray knocked on the door to Tsunade's office.

"Let him in." answered the Sannin.

Sure enough, she was standing in the office along with Shizune, the latter of which had opened the door.

"We've got someone that would like to join your forces..." said Gray.

"Really? Who is it?" inquired Tsunade.

Juvia raised her hand.

"Is there a particular reason you're recommending her to us?" asked the Sannin.

"Well, she did save my life..." answered the ice mage.

"She did?" asked Tsunade.

"Yes, she did...Kankuro managed to save her life in return...which is why she volunteered." answered Gray.

"Well, when you put it that way...I suppose she can join us." spoke Tsunade.

"Yes!" cheered Juvia.

"Just let us test out her abilities first...and while you're at it, I was thinking that you would wnat some training." answered the Sannin.

"How come?" inquired Gray.

"Since you're interdimensional partners with my apprentice Sakura...I figured this would be a good idea." nodded Tsunade.

"Interdimensional partners?" inquired Shizune.

"It's been happening an awful lot lately..." noted the Sannin.

"Alright then." nodded Gray.

However, at that very moment, a scout came by with some urgent news.

"What's the matter?" inquired Tsunade.

"There's been another attack." explained the scout.

"What?" inquired Shizune.

The scout immediately explained who the victims are and what had happened to them, causing Juvia to gasp in shock. They matched the description of her friends!

Immediately, she began to cry.

"What's the matter?" inquired Gray.

"It's my comrades...they were wiped out completely...I'm the only survivor now..." said Juvia.

Gray immediately pressed his hand on her shoulder.

"Who could have done this to them?" asked Shizune.

"Well, I saw what appeared to be a man riding a dragon flying away when I discovered their bodies..." answered the scout.

"Kenichi..." murmured Tsunade.

"Who's Kenichi?" asked Gray.

"He's a man that's a a threat to virtually everyone around him...you can ask your friends Lucy and Natsu for more details. But if you ever see him, stay away." explained the Sannin.

"Alright then." nodded the ice mage.

Juvia continued to cry.

"Should we take her to some shelter? She looks like she needs some time alone..." noted Gray.

"There's a house nearby that you can use...though there's only one bed." answered Tsunade.

Gray nodded, and began to escort Juvia towards the house.

_Meanwhile..._

"You wanted to see me again?" inquired Lucy.

"This time we're going to try summoning Gamabunta. Naruto's already done so before, so this shouldn't be too difficult for you." answered Jiraiya.

"I suppose." nodded the summoner mage.

Curious, she noticed that Jiraiya appeared to be writing a novel of some kind.

"What are you doing?" asked the mage.

"I'm making the next Icha Icha novel..." explained Jiraiya.

"Interesting..." noted Lucy.

Curious, she took a closer look, and noticed that the female protagonist on the novel reminded her of herself.

"Did you base her off me?" asked the kunoichi.

"I write what I know...and I know a lot about attractive females." noted Jiraiya.

"OK..." answered the summoner mage. She was once again feeling a bit disturbed.

"So, are you ready?" inquired the Sannin.

Lucy nodded, and pressed her hand on the ground.

Immediately, she summoned Gamabunta.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the summoner mage.

"Where am I now? I was relaxing in my swamp..." answered the giant toad.

"Greetings, Gamabunta. Today you're getting a new summoner." explained Jiraiya.

"What? A new summoner?" asked Gamabunta.

Lucy waved to the giant toad rather nervously.

"First you let Naruto into the deal, now you're letting her then?" inquired the giant toad.

Apparently, he wasn't looking forward to being summoned by three different people...three was a crowd, and he was a busy toad.

"He might want to test your abilities first." noted Jiraiya.

"What do you have in mind?" inquired Lucy.

"If you can stay on my back for a few hours or so...I'll let you be my summon. But only if you can pull it off!" exclaimed Gamabunta.

"I'm assuming you're going to try to shake me off?" asked the kunoichi.

Gamabunta nodded.

"OK...I'll be back in a few minutes." nodded Lucy.

She came back a few minutes later and attached herself to Gamabunta.

"OK, I'm ready now!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Immediately, Gamabunta began to shake himself uncontrollably.

"It's a good thing Natsu isn't taking this test...otherwise he'd fail for sure." thought Lucy.

A few hours later, he began to pant for breath.

Much to his surprise, Lucy had managed to stay on without any problems.

"How'd you...do it?" asked Gamabunta.

"I superglued myself to your back." explained the kunoichi.

"Clever girl..." murmured the toad.

**"Why didn't Naruto ever think of that?" **inquired Kurama.

"Congratulations, Lucy...but how are you going to free-"

Lucy jumped off his back a few minutes later.

"I'm a bit of an escape artist..." explained the kunoichi.

"Really? You are?" asked Jiraiya.

"I'm pretty hard to keep tied down..." answered Lucy.

"I see..." nodded the Sannin.

Signing the contract with Gamabunta, Lucy dismissed him a few minutes later.

"So, I'm officially a toad summoner now?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Yes. But come back later, I still have many things to teach you..." answered the Sannin.

"How much do you have left to give?" asked Lucy.

"Enough to last you for years." nodded Jiraiya.

"Wow..." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, Lucy said farewell to Jiraiya as she went to tell Shikamaru the good news.

"So, how did it go?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Pretty well. I can summon Gamabunta now." answered Lucy.

"Really? That sounds like it'll come in handy...I wish I could summon something that big..." noted Shikamaru.

"Maybe you will someday." nodded the kunoichi.

Once again, Shikamaru went to sleep.

"I'll see you later!" answered Lucy as she went to test out her new summon.

She may be trapped in an another universe...

...but at least she was still having a good time, she thought.

_Meanwhile..._

A few minutes after Naruto handed his copy of Icha Icha to Erza, he was faced with a startling discovery.

"The Phantom Lord guild base...it's moving right towards us!" exclaimed Alzack.

"I think Phantom Lord is giving us everything they have!" bellowed Bisca.

"That doesn't sound good..." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, he leapt into action.

Sure enough, they began to hear a loud thumping sound, like a miniature earthquake.

Naruto looked around, and discovered that they weren't kidding.

"We might be in danger here..." answered the genin.

And to make matters worse, there were several Phantom Lord mages joining in on the action.

It looked like Fairy Tail was going to have to give the giant everything they had.

"Here I go..." said Naruto as he began to pull out a key.

Immediately, the metal giant attacked the genin with a spell, forcing him to move out of the way.

"Erm, that is one mighty giant..." answered the genin.

Immediately, Team Shadow Gear began to attack the giant.

"We can do this!" exclaimed Levy.

She began to write down the word Storm...and sure enough, a thunderstorm began to attack the giant.

This was then followed by Droy using his plant magic to wrap up the giant, followed by Jet spin-dashing into the mechanical monstrosity.

Suffice to say, they managed to knock it off-balance.

"So far, so good! Keep at it!" exclaimed Levy.

Shrugging, Naruto decided to head back into the guild hall. It looked as if Team Shadow Gear had things under control.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

At that very moment, the giant began to break free from its restraints, and began to charge up for a darkness spell.

"Hit the deck!" screamed Levy.

Fortunately, they were able to avoid the darkness spell.

Unfortunately, it was still enough to send them flying, and Droy and Jet ended up being separated from Levy.

"Metal giant is killing us!" screamed Droy in horror.

"I don't think it's actually killed any of us yet..." answered Jet.

"Metal giant is going to kill us!" exclaimed Droy.

At that very moment, Boze and Sue approached them.

"Can we help you?" asked Droy.

"I think they're going to be helping us die..." answered Jet.

Sure enough, Boze and Sue were getting ready to cast some spells.

Droy gulped.

Noticing that her two teammates were in danger, Levy went over to help them...

...only to find that her leg had been injured.

"Am I wounded out on the battlefield? What's a girl to do?" questioned the letter mage.

"Need a hand?" asked Gajeel.

"Huh? Gajeel? Is that you?" inquired Levy.

"Don't worry, I'll take things from here...can you make it back to the infirmary?" questioned Gajeel.

"I think so...I just need some crutches, I think." answered Levy.

Gajeel immediately made some crutches out of metal.

"Thank you." said the letter mage as she headed towards the infirmary.

Sure enough, Droy and Jet were being pummeled by the Phantom Lord mage duo...Jet had been transformed into a frog by Sue and Droy was being punched in the stomach by Boze.

"Aren't you a fatty..." noted Boze as he pummeled Droy into submission.

However, help had arrived by an unlikely source.

"Gajeel, is that you? I thought that Fairy Tail took your prisoner..." questioned Sue.

Realizing that they did not realize that he had left Phantom Lord, Gajeel decided to play along, hiding his Fairy Tail guild mark in the process.

"Don't worry, I managed to escape...though it wasn't easy. They put me in a prison full of plastic." explained Gajeel.

"They have a plastic prison?" inquired Boze.

"Makarov was prepared for everything." answered Gajeel.

"That explains a lot." nodded Sue.

"Now run along now. I'm going to deal with these two myself." nodded the iron dragonslayer.

Boze and Sue nodded.

As soon as they were out of sight, Gajeel helped Droy to his feet.

Unfortunately, he did not have a spell to cure the polymorphed Jet.

"Ribbit!" bellowed Jet.

"Right...you take him to the infirmary...I already sent Levy there...I think her leg got broken." answered Gajeel.

"Yes, of course!" nodded Droy.

Immediately, he began to take Jet towards the Fairy Tail infirmary.

He then noticed that the Phantom Lord giant was made of metal, and he suddenly got an idea.

Immediately, he went up to one of the giant's legs (careful to avoid being stomped on in the process) and began to take some bites out of it.

"This tastes like dark chocolate, strangely enough. What a coincidence..." murmured Gajeel.

Apparently, a metal giant created by Master Jose himself had that sort of flavor.

Speaking of Master Jose, he quickly noticed what Gajeel was doing.

"Gajeel?! What are you doing?" bellowed the guildmaster from within the giant.

Gajeel sweatdropped.

"Um, hello?" asked the iron dragonslayer.

"Why are you eating my giant? Can't you see that I'm about to destroy Fairy Tail with it?" inquired Master Jose.

"About that...you see, I happen to be part of Fairy Tail now...so I can't let you do that." answered Gajeel.

"What? Why would you betray me like this?!" exclaimed Master Jose.

"You ate the Exceed I befriended...don't you remember?" asked the iron dragonslayer.

"Oh, right...how could I have forgotten that...no matter! I'll teach you to betray me! You're going to suffer for your defiance!" bellowed the guildmaster.

Immediately, he began to pick up Gajeel and started squeezing the life from him using the robot's right hand.

"Gah!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

"It's a shame...after this, I'm going to have to look for another dragonslayer to do my bidding with...and while I'm at it, I might have to replace the Element 4 as well...they never returned from that mission I gave them..." noted Master Jose.

"Losing...oxygen..." murmured Gajeel.

"No matter! I don't need anyone else! As long as I still have this giant, I'll be fine. So long, Fairy Tail!" bellowed Master Jose.

In the robot's left hand, he began to charge up for another darkness spell. An evil grin immediately appeared on his face.

However, he quickly found himself being interrupted by Naruto's Rasengan.

"What the-" exclaimed Master Jose.

Immediately, Naruto's Rasengan hit the robot in his left arm, forcing it to cancel the spell.

He then followed by hitting the robot in his right arm...causing it to drop Gajeel. He caught him shortly afterwards.

"No hard feelings...about me beating you up?" inquired Gajeel.

"Sakura's done worse." nodded Naruto.

Once again, the giant began to advance towards Fairy Tail...

...only for Master Jose to discover that Gajeel had eaten through the robot's right leg, which was now lying on the floor.

As the giant was synchronized to the Phantom Lord guildmaster's movements, he had to adapt accordingly.

Thus, he was going to have to hop on one leg.

The metal giant reacted accordingly, and began to hop towards the Fairy Tail guild base.

However, this time, it was Elfman and Mirajane's turn to shine.

Immediately, they began to transform into their beast and demon forms respectively.

"We're not letting you destroy Fairy Tail!" they exclaimed in unison.

Together, they began to attack the robot, causing a significant amount of damage.

"You think you can stop me?" inquired Master Jose.

Immediately, he grabbed onto them both and began squeezing the life from them like he had done to Gajeel a moment earlier, causing them to revert back to their original forms.

"We're not..." murmured Elfman.

"...going to surrender..." continued Mirajane.

"Really? That's too bad." answered Master Jose as he continued approaching Fairy Tail.

Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't either.

Immediately, he hit the giant in the other leg, causing it to collapse on the ground.

This was then followed by Gajeel eating through the other leg as well.

"Why didn't I make this giant out of wood?" inquired Master Jose.

Then again, that would make it vulnerable to Natsu's fire magic...and by extension Hinata as well. Apparently Natsu wasn't the only fire dragonslayer in the guild anymore.

Getting desperate, he began to crawl on the floor, causing the metal giant to do the same as it continued his way towards the guild base.

"He sure is persistent, isn't he?" inquired Naruto.

"So are we!" nodded Elfman.

Transforming once again, the duo ripped both of the arms off of the robot, rendering it immobile.

With most of his magic depleted and his robot disabled, Master Jose decided that if he was going to die...then so would Fairy Tail.

"That's it! I'm...taking you...all with me!" bellowed the guildmaster.

Immediately, he prepared the robot to self-destruct...

...only for Makarov to suddenly punch him in the face.

"I don't think so." answered the guildmaster.

"Guildmaster? Is that you? I thought you were...older." noted Master Jose.

"I made a friend...which is more than you will ever do." noted Makarov.

Immediately, he began to pummel Master Jose into the ground as payback for what he did to him earlier.

"Not so entertaining when you're on the other side, now is it?" inquired the man.

"I surrender!" bellowed Master Jose.

"Consider your guild disbanded. I'm telling the magic council of everything you've done." answered Makarov.

"Noooooo!" screamed the guildmaster.

He then knocked Master Jose out cold, causing the robot to collapse into pieces.

Thankfully, he was able to crawl his way out, lifting Master Jose's unconscious body as he did so.

_A few minutes later..._

"Did we win?" asked Naruto.

"I think so." nodded Makarov.

Sure enough, Gajeel was helping himself to the metal scraps that remained of the robot.

"So, is Gajeel officially a member of our guild now?" inquired Mirajane.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Makarov.

Sure enough, the Phantom Lord mages were retreating.

The magic council came to arrest Master Jose a few minutes later. By the looks of it, Phantom Lord was finished.

"Right then...you want to throw a party?" inquired the guildmaster.

"Yes!" nodded Naruto.

Sure enough, Fairy Tail went back towards their guild base to celebrate their victory over Phantom Lord.

As they did so, Naruto began to think to himself.

"This has been a rather exciting day...I've managed to help defeat Phantom Lord and even managed to make a friend...how about that." noted the genin.

However, he got the feeling that his adventures in the world of magic weren't over yet.

Nonetheless, he was looking forward to them.

"I may still not be able to go home...but at least I can have a good time here, right?" he thought.

_This has been a rather exciting chapter, hasn't it? Phantom Lord's been defeated and now everyone can celebrate!_

_But since Kenichi and Chiyoye are on the loose...the story hasn't ended...but for all sakes and purposes, you can consider this the end of Part I!_

_How many parts are there going to be? Well, I haven't quite decided yet...but in case it's not obvious, the next part is going to be Part II!_

_Expect more interdimensional partners...and of course, more action! Also, we're going to pick up where Kimimaro and Chiyoye left off..._

_See you!_


	23. Chapter 23: A New Recruit

Ninja Tail

_In ths chapter, we're going to pick up where Part I left off...that is, Kimimaro and Chiyoye are going to resume fighting...and we're going to see how it turns out._

_Also, someone is going to be joining Fairy Tail...can you guess who it is? Then again, you might have already figured it out. It's rather fun to foreshadow things._

_Welcome to Part II!_

**Chapter 23: A New Recruit**

Kimimaro slashed and stabbed his way through the zombies. Though more of them kept on coming, he was not slowing down the assault.

"How many zombies does she have?" questioned the bone ninja. It felt that he was facing an entire army of them.

Then again, this wasn't the first time that he had been sent on the battlefield against multiple opponents. Orochimaru in particular considered him to be a one-man army.

And to some extent, he was right. He personally wasn't surprised that he wanted him to be his next body vessel.

At least, that was how it used to be before he came down with an illness. Nowadays, he wanted Sasuke Uchiha to be his body.

Wait...was Lord Orochimaru trying to replace him?

"No no, he wouldn't...I'm still useful to him. He took me in and raised me as his own..." thought Kimimaro.

"I see that you're still fighting...let's make things a bit harder, shall we?" inquired Chiyoye.

Immediately, she began to flip through the pages of her spellbook.

"Ah, here we are!" exclaimed the sorceress.

She began to summon some gargoyles to help her defeat her opponent.

"Attack!" exclaimed Chiyoye.

Unfortunately for Kimimaro, he wasn't having an easy time taking down the gargoyles. And to make matters worse, his illness was starting to take effect.

Immediately, he began to cough up blood.

"What's the matter? You're feeling sick? Oh dear...maybe you should have stayed in bed! Don't worry...I'll put you to rest..." exclaimed Chiyoye.

Getting desperate, Kimimaro activated the second stage of his cursed seal. Bones emerged from his body and he grew a tail.

"What's this? It appears that you've transformed into a dinosaur...well, time for you to become extinct like the rest of your kind." answered Chiyoye.

This allowed him to turn the tables on her summoned gargoyles, smashing them like butter.

This was then followed by him cutting through the remaining zombies, leaving none of them left.

"Well well well. It looks like you've gone full power...I'm assuming this is your peak?" inquired Chiyoye.

Once again, Kimimaro began to cough up blood.

"I won't let you...kill anyone else!" exclaimed the bone ninja.

"Oh, I assure you, I've got lots more planned than this little town..." answered Chiyoye.

Suddenly, spikes of bone began to shoot out of the ground.

"Hmm?" inquired the sorceress.

As it turned out, they were covering the floor within a twenty-foot radius.

"I guess I better get away from them..." answered Chiyoye.

Using a flight spell provided by one of the mages that she had killed, she began to fly up and out of the spikes' range.

"Well, I guess I won't be able to summon zombies anymore...they'll just get impaled by the spikes...though I will admit that it would be a bit satisfying to watch..." noted Chiyoye.

Suddenly, Kimimaro emerged from one of the bones and tried to impale her with his bone drill.

"What's this? You're as persistent as ever!" exclaimed Chiyoye as she avoided Kimimaro's bone attacks.

At this very moment, Chiyoye was actually tempted to retreat. She had to admit, she might have gone over her head with this one.

Kimimaro had proven to be the strongest opponent that she had faced so far...except for maybe Erza.

However, as she continued avoiding Kimimaro's attacks...she began to remember something.

Didn't she see a mark on Kimimaro's chest before it spread across his body?

Suddenly, she had an idea.

Once again, she let Kimimaro attack, who began to shoot bones from his fingertips at her.

However, she teleported directly in front of him, much to his surprise.

"What are y-"

Suddenly, she pressed her hand on the chest, and began to drain the chakra out of his cursed seal.

Immediately, it began to disappear, and Kimimaro reverted back to his normal state, much to his surprise.

"My cursed seal! You drained it! How did y-"

"Just because I couldn't drain you because you were ill...doesn't mean that I couldn't drain your cursed seal." explained Chiyoye.

At this point, the bone forest began to crumble into dust.

"Oh dear...not so tough without it, are you? Personally I want to test it out..." answered the sorceress.

As it turned out, the cursed seal of heaven had appeared on the back of her neck.

Activating the second stage of the cursed seal, her hair turned white, and her skin turned pale.

Kimimaro's skin turned pale as well, albeit for a much different reason. He couldn't believe that she was using his own cursed seal against him.

"This is rather ironic, isn't it? Personally I actually like this new look...I look just like a banshee. But no matter. It's time to finish this." answered Chiyoye.

Chiyoye then hit Kimimaro with a chakra-enhanced lightning bolt, causing him to fall to the floor and collapse on the ground.

At this point, the entire bone forest had disappeared.

To make matters worse, his illness was now fully starting to take effect, and he was beginning to feel very weak.

"You know, as pleasurable as it would be to kill you right here and now...I think it would be more satisfying if I just left you here to die...I look forward to you dying from that terminal illness of yours." answered Chiyoye.

"You won't...get away with this." murmured Kimimaro.

"Why, of course I will! Once I become the greatest mage in Fiore, nobody will be able to stop me...not even Fairy Tail!" bellowed the sorceress.

"Fairy...Tail? Mages?" inquired the bone ninja.

Immediately, she teleported away as Kimimaro passed out.

As she did so, the environment around her began to wither and die. Apparently, her magic was starting to take effect across the vegetation.

"Maybe I shouldn't just restrict myself to the townspeople here..." noted Chiyoye as she walked her way out of the town.

As she did so, she laughed at Kimimaro one last time. It was so hilarious that he suffered from such a deadly disease.

Maybe one day she would be able to infect Fairy Tail with it...imagine how many mages she would be able to kill.

But for now, she was simply content with draining the life from others.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, did we manage to defeat Phantom Lord?" inquired Sakura.

"Yes...Master Jose has been disbanded and his entire guild has been arrested." nodded Makarov.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, the entirety of Fairy Tail was throwing a party. Alzack and Bisca were a shooting range, Cana was drinking as much alcohol as she could (which was quite a bit), Hinata was eating another torch, Elfman was flexing his muscles, Mirajane was looking at herself in the mirror, and Happy was helping himself to some delicious fish.

Granted, it wasn't quite the same with Lucy, Natsu, and Gray absent, but it was quite pleasant nonetheless.

Naruto himself appeared to be enjoying the celebration the most. Then again, Phantom Lord had captured him earlier.

Oddly enough, Gajeel didn't seem to be participating in the party.

"Are you going to participate?" inquired Makarov.

"It just feels funny celebrating the fall of a guild after I was once part of it..." noted the iron dragonslayer.

"Good point." answered the guildmaster.

"If you need me...I'll be eating what's left of their robot." spoke Gajeel as he left the guild hall.

"I have to admit...when I first started this guild, I never thought that I would one day be recruiting ninja instead of mages...but I guess that's just the way it is." he spoke to himself.

Sure enough, Levy was reading a book, Droy was eating some chicken wings, while Jet was running around the room.

Shrugging, he decided to read the newspaper. Surely, the defeat of Phantom Lord and their disbandment would be in the headlines, right?

Sure enough, it was.

However, he also noticed in that same exact newspaper the citizens of Elm Town had mysteriously vanished. In fact, it appeared to have been massacred.

"What?" inquired Makarov.

Suffice to say, he was rather surprised at the occurrence. However, he had also heard that the mana in Chiyoye's crystal ball had turned green, and that she had received a large power boost.

He immediately put two and two together, and began to wonder if he should really be celebrating.

"I suppose Fairy Tail can party for now...but we're going to have to send some mages to investigate...the stronger Chiyoye becomes...the worse things are going to be." answered Makarov.

"Is something the matter? You look worried about something..." asked Naruto.

As it turned out, he had decided to go talk to Makarov. By the looks of it, he was enjoying his fruit punch.

"It's just that Chiyoye's been getting stronger lately..." answered the guildmaster.

"What? She has?" inquired Naruto.

"I think we might need to investigate the town and see how many people she's killed...the more victims she has, the stronger she's going to get..." noted Makarov.

"I'll do it! With my leaping abilities, I'm one of the fastest mages here...or ninja...I'm not quite sure which." answered Naruto.

"Alright then. You might want to bring some friends in case you see Chiyoye though...I don't want her draining your life energy too...with the abilities of a Fairy Tail mage at her side she will become a much bigger threat than she is now." noted Makarov.

"Yes, of course." nodded the genin.

In this case, he decided to bring Hinata and Erza with him.

"Hmm? You want some help? Sure, Naruto!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"OK, I'll help." nodded Erza.

Immediately, they set off to Elm Town, which as it turned out wasn't too far from where they were.

However, they quickly found it to be empty.

"Where did everyone go?" inquired Naruto.

Hinata used her Byakugan...

...and gasped in shock.

The whole town had been massacred!

"Chiyoye was here, alright..." answered the kunoichi.

"What?!" exclaimed Naruto.

Suddenly, he stepped on a corpse, and began to scream.

"Yes, Naruto...this is horrifying. I may be a battle-hardened warrior...but even I'm disturbed by this." nodded Erza.

"I don't believe it..." answered Naruto.

"I can't believe it either, Naruto. Who would have thought that Chiyoye would be able to pull this off while we busy fighting Phantom Lord?" asked Erza.

Hinata immediately used her Byakugan to check for survivors.

Suddenly, she noticed something that disturbed her greatly.

"What's the matter, Hinata? Did you find any survivors?" inquired Naruto.

"It's the Sound Four...they've been wiped out completely!" exclaimed Hinata.

"What? She killed the Sound Four?!" bellowed the genin.

Immediately, they went to investigate. Sure enough, Hinata wasn't kidding.

"Oh my gosh...she did this to them!?" bellowed Naruto.

"I feel sick..." answered Hinata.

Sure enough, the Sound Four had all been slaughtered in horrible ways. Jirobo and Sakon & Ukon had both been reduced to withered husks, and Tayuya and Kidomaru looked as if they had been eaten by other people.

Apparently, the latter was the work of Chiyoye's zombies.

Immediately, Hinata began to cry. She did admit that the Sound Four were a group of evil ninja...but she didn't want them all to die like this.

They didn't deserve to fall into her clutches, and quite frankly, neither did this town.

Curious, she visited the police station, and discovered that the police chief had been devoured and mutilated by his own prisoners and his own police crew.

Personally this hurt her the most. From what she could find in his paperwork, he had been doing everything in his power to try to protect the town from Chiyoye.

But in the end, he was completely powerless against her.

Naruto felt much the same way, and he began to cry as well. He was shocked as to how low Chiyoye had sunk in her quest for omnipotence.

Suddenly, Erza noticed that there was a young man lying not too far from where they were.

"Um, Naruto...I think there might be another victim here..." spoke Erza.

"Not another one!" exclaimed Naruto.

Once again, he began to cry. How many people was Chiyoye going to kill? It was bad enough that she had killed people from his new home...but now she had gone and killed people from his world as well.

Curious, they approached his body to see if Chiyoye had in fact claimed another life.

Immediately, Naruto recognized the body.

"She managed to kill him!? He was one of the strongest opponents I ever faced!" bellowed the genin.

Sure enough, Kimimaro was lying motionless on the floor.

By the looks of it, there had been quite a scuffle. There were a horde of corpses lying on the floor, as well as some rubble from the gargoyles she had summoned.

Curious, he noticed that Kimimaro's cursed seal of heaven was missing, and wondered what had happened to it.

Did Chiyoye somehow find a way to drain it?

"Not him too..." answered Hinata. She was still feeling as tearful as Naruto was. Personally, she wanted to close her eyes and look away from all of this.

Erza began to frown. By the looks of it, Kimimaro had been trying to stop Chiyoye from murdering more people. But in the end, he had failed.

"I don't think I will be able to forget his sacrifice..." thought the knight.

Suddenly, Naruto gasped in shock.

"What's the matter, Naruto? Did you see Chiyoye?" inquired Erza.

"I think he's still alive!" bellowed the genin.

"What? He is?" asked Hinata. Did someone really survive Chiyoye's attack? Then again, if there was anyone that could survive this, it was him.

"Yes, I think so! His pulse is faint, but it's still there! We might be able to save him!" exclaimed Naruto.

"We need to take him to the infirmary then." nodded the genin.

Immediately, they picked up Kimimaro and began to take him towards their guild hall.

_Meanwhile..._

Juvia left her new home, with a rather sad look on her face.

Sure enough, Gray was ready to greet her.

"It's OK...we're going to make your guildmates' killer pay. I promise you that." answered Gray.

"Do you know who it is?" asked Juvia.

"Natsu and Lucy told me about him...they said he was a man by the name of Kenichi. He's a mass murderer..." explained the devil slayer.

"He is?" inquired the water mage.

"I'm afraid that your friends were far from his first victims..." asked Gray.

"How terrible..." answered Juvia.

"Personally I don't think that we can even call him a human being...just look at all the things he's done." nodded the ice mage.

"I agree...he's a monster." agreed the water mage.

"The more I hear about him, the more horrid he seems." answered Gray.

"Did the scout see an interdimensional portal by any chance? I want to head back to my world..." spoke Juvia.

"I'm afraid Master Jose shut the portal...he didn't want Kenichi to invade Fiore as well, by the looks of it." nodded Gray.

"Good point..." answered the water mage.

Immediately, Juvia began to sigh.

"It's OK Juvia...we'll be able to find our way back to our world eventually...I know it." spoke Gray.

"You think we might be able to stop Kenichi one day?" inquired Juvia.

"We might be able to. From what we know about him, he's not used to fighting mages...only ninja." nodded Gray.

"That's a good sign." answered the water mage.

"Nonetheless, we're going to need to become a lot stronger if we wish to have a chance to defeat him. Lucy and Natsu said he had the Rinnegan." noted the ice mage.

"The Rinnegan?" inquired Juvia.

"It's a special pair of eyes that lets you use powerful jutsu...Kenichi has been using it to kill his victims left, right, and center." answered Gray.

"You really know your stuff, don't you, Gray?" asked the water mage.

"I happen to have become interdimensional portals with a rather smart girl, so yes." nodded the ice mage.

"Interdimensional partner?" inquired Juvia.

"When you use an interdimensional portal at around the same time as someone else, you end up inheriting their abilities, as well as their traits." explained Gray.

"That explains why I've felt so strange lately..." answered the water mage.

Gray then explained that Juvia had become interdimensional partners with Sakon and Ukon, and had thus inherited their kekkei genkai.

"That explains a lot..." noted the mage.

Likewise, her deceased teammates had inherited the abilities of the other members of the Sound Four prior to their demise.

"Now that I think of it...I can't help but shake the feeling that the Sound Four have met a terrible fate as well..." noted Gray.

"Did Kenichi catch them too?" inquired Juvia.

"No, I think it was someone else...someone that's looking for omnipotence..." explained the ice mage.

"That's too bad..." answered the water mage.

"Well, admittedly, they were elite bodyguards for a very evil ninja...but I can't help but shake the feeling that they suffered a fate beyond what they deserved..." noted Gray.

Juvia began to cry once again.

"It's OK...we'll help get you through this..." answered the ice mage.

"Thank you..." nodded Juvia, giving Gray a hug.

"If you need me, I'll be training with Tsunade...since I'm her apprentice's interdimensional partner...she figured that she had a lot to teach me..." noted the ice mage.

"See you!" exclaimed the water mage.

_Meanwhile..._

"Makarov, we have a survivor here!" exclaimed Naruto.

"What? You do?" inquired the guildmaster.

"He was the only one that survived the massacre..." spoke the genin.

"He did?" asked Makarov.

"Yes...however, he's in desperate need of medical attention." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, he took Kimimaro to a bed and put him on life support.

Sure enough, Levy, Droy, and Jet will also there...they were a bit surprised at the occurrence. Levy's leg was on a sling while Jet was still polymorphed.

As for Droy...well, he had nearly choked on a chicken bone.

Sure enough, Sakura seemed rather surprised that Naruto had brought Kimimaro to the guild.

"Why did you bring him here, Naruto? He's a psychopath!" exclaimed Sakura.

"I couldn't just leave him to die!" answered Naruto.

Sakura sighed. Naruto actually had a good point for a change.

Immediately, she began to heal Levy so that she could walk upright again.

"Thank you." answered Levy as she left the hospital seat.

"Hmm...I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to do about him..." answered Sakura as she noticed the polymorphed Jet.

At that very moment, Hinata came in and pressed her hands on Jet.

Immediately, he began to transform back into normal.

Once again, Hinata's purification abilities were coming in handy.

"Thank goodness...I was worried that I was going to end up having my legs eaten..." answered Jet.

"I would never do that to you." spoke Droy.

"I wasn't referring to you in particular." replied Jet as he exited the infirmary.

"Do you think you can heal him? I know that Kabuto could never pull it off...he didn't know enough about his clan and their anatomy..." noted Naruto.

"I suppose I could...but I'm going to need some time." answered Sakura.

"Alright then." nodded the genin as he left the infirmary.

"Is he going to be OK?" inquired Hinata.

"I think so...Sakura said that she could heal him...though it's going to take her a while." spoke the genin.

"That's a relief...I don't want anyone else dying." spoke the kunoichi.

"Yeah...I think Chiyoye might have drained his cursed seal though...it's vanished off of him completely." answered Naruto.

"That's not good." nodded Hinata.

"On the other hand...he might not be so violent though...the Cursed Seals tend to make people rather crazy...as you could see by the Sound Four..." noted the genin.

"True..." nodded the kunoichi.

"Nonetheless, I don't look forward to Chiyoye using the Cursed Seal when she's in a tight spot..." answered Naruto.

"Yeah...that doesn't sound good." nodded Hinata.

"You want to do another mission while Kimimaro recovers?" inquired the genin.

"Sure." nodded the kunoichi.

At that very moment, Makarov paid them a visit.

"Hi there!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Hello..." nodded Makarov.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Naruto.

"Well, Igneel has finally returned after a long absence...and he wants to see his foster son again..." explained the guildmaster.

"He does?" asked the genin.

"Unfortunately, his foster son in question happens to be Natsu...and we still don't have enough magical power to bring him back..." answered Makarov.

"How sad..." nodded Hinata.

"I was hoping that one of you could head to the volcano that he lives in and explain things to him...mind you, it's going to be rather hot there..." explained the guildmaster.

"I think this is your mission then." nodded Naruto.

"You're right...I guess so." answered Hinata.

"See you later!" exclaimed Naruto as Hinata went to go visit Igneel.

_About thirty minutes later..._

"Well, this is the place." noted Hinata.

Immediately, she entered the volcano...

...and was surprised to see an enormous dragon.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Sure enough, she was not expecting that.

Then again, why would a human being want to live in a volcano?

"Er, are you Igneel?" asked Hinata.

"Why do you ask? I've been waiting a long time to see my foster son again..." answered Igneel.

"About that...I'm afraid that he's in another world..." spoke the kunochi.

"What?!" bellowed the fire dragon.

Immediately, he began to roar.

Hinata frowned.

"I'm sorry! It's all my fault! I used the interdimensional portal he did simutaneously and we both got trapped!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Igneel sighed. It appeared that this was an accident.

"I'm really sorry." apologized Hinata.

"I suppose it's not your fault. Thank you for telling me this." answered Igneel.

Immediately, Hinata began to take her leave.

As she did so, she noticed that there was a large pool of magma inside the volcano.

"Isn't this a big pool..." noted the kunoichi.

Suddenly, she lost her balance, and fell straight into the molten rock, causing Igneel to gasp in surprise.

He let out a sigh. It looked like Hinata had ended up like a snowman in the spring.

However, much to his surprise, she resurfaced a few seconds later.

"Thank goodness I happen to be fireproof now...otherwise that would have killed me." noted Hinata as she pulled herself out of the lava pool.

"Are you now?" inquired Igneel.

"Yes...when Natsu and I used the same interdimensional portal...he ended up giving me a gift." answered Hinata.

"Did he now?" asked the fire dragon.

"Yes...I happen to be a fire dragonslayer just like he is." nodded the kunoichi.

"Well then...would you mind if I teach you a few tricks before you leave?" inquired Igneel.

"Not at all...I've only been a fire dragonslayer for about two weeks...so any help would be appreciated." nodded Hinata.

"Alright then...could you try moving that boulder for me?" inquired the fire dragon.

Immediately, he pointed his tail towards the nearby boulder.

Hinata nodded. Much to her surprise, she was able to do so somewhat easily.

"I take it being a dragonslayer comes with super strength?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Yes, it does." noted Igneel.

"I think I might be able to rival my friend Sakura then...she happens to be the interdimensional partner of Natsu's friend Gray..." explained Hinata.

"Funny, Natsu told me all about him...he said that they were best friends even though they always argued with each other." answered Igneel.

"Funny, I feel like arguing with her now." noted the kunoichi.

"Right...your next task is to create the biggest fireball you can..." said the fire dragon.

Hinata began to do so...sure enough, she managed to create a much larger fireball than she had done earlier.

"Interesting..." answered the kunoichi. Apparently, the larger the fireball was, the more she needed to focus.

At the fire dragon's request, she tossed it in the fire dragon's mouth, allowing him to have some breakfast.

"One last thing...I want you to drink some dragon blood." answered Igneel.

"Dragon's blood?" inquired Hinata.

"Don't worry, it's from a blood donor." spoke the fire dragon.

Immediately, he handed Hinata the jar containing the dragon blood.

"OK...here goes nothing." answered the kunoichi.

She began to drink the fire dragon blood...which unsurprisingly tasted like fire itself.

She quickly began to feel stronger.

"That was great...too bad I can't keep asking fire dragons for their blood like this..." noted Hinata.

"I'll let you know if I get some more...just don't drink too much or you'll risk transforming into a dragon yourself." warned Igneel.

"OK..." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, she began to leave the volcano, feeling stronger than before.

"I think this visit paid off..." noted Hinata.

_A few minutes later..._

"So, did he take it well?" inquired Makarov.

"Yes, he did." nodded Hinata.

"You look happy about something." noted the guildmaster.

"Well, he gave me some training since I happened to be fairly new at being a dragonslayer..." answered the kunoichi.

"That was nice of him..." nodded Makarov.

"He said that I have super strength now..." explained Hinata.

"Yes...that was one of Natsu's natural abilities." answered the guildmaster.

Immediately, Hinata began to lift a rather large statue...that resembled Makarov himself.

"Hey! Be careful with that!" exclaimed Makarov.

Hinata immediately dropped the statue on the floor, careful not to break it.

"Sorry, I just wanted to test it out." answered the kunoichi.

At that very moment, Naruto came by.

"Kimimaro's waking up!" exclaimed the genin.

"He is? That's a good sign." nodded Hinata.

Immediately, they went to check on him.

Sure enough, Kimimaro was beginning to wake up from his forced slumber.

"Where am I? I thought I was about to die..." answered the bone ninja.

"If Sakura here hadn't saved you...you likely would have died..." noted Naruto.

"She did?" asked Kimimaro.

Curious, he noticed that his cursed seal had disappeared.

"What happened to my cursed seal?!" exclaimed the ninja.

"Chiyoye drained it and took it for herself." explained Hinata.

"What?!" bellowed Kimimaro.

He then remembered that Chiyoye had pressed her hand on his chest and had done just that.

"Oh, right...now I remember...she wiped out my entire squad..." answered Kimimaro.

"I know...we saw." nodded Naruto.

Kimimaro was at a loss to what to do. On the one hand, they opposed his master Orochimaru, whom he had dedicated his life to. On the other hand, they had saved his life and had cured him of his illness.

"I'm at a loss to what to do...Lord Orochimaru needs me..." answered Kimimaro.

"I'm afraid he doesn't care about you...he's been manipulating you for years..." spoke Naruto.

"What?!" exclaimed the bone ninja.

Curious, he remembered that Gaara had told him that long ago back when he was fifteen. Could it be that he was telling the truth?

"Has my life...been a lie?" inquired Kimimaro.

"It's OK Kimimaro...you have people that care about you now..." answered Hinata.

"I need some time alone..." spoke the bone ninja.

Immediately, he left his hospital bed and looked for a place that he could find some peace and quiet.

"Should I talk to him?" inquired Naruto.

"Give him time." answered the kunoichi.

_Meanwhile..._

"Master, I'm afraid that I have some bad news." answered Kabuto.

"Yes? What is it?" inquired Orochimaru.

"The Sound Four have still not returned from their mission..." explained the medical ninja.

"What?" asked the Sannin.

"We have reason to believe that they have been completely wiped out." answered Kabuto.

"They have? Well, there goes some of my most valuable assets..." noted Orochimaru.

"This unfortunately includes Kimimaro...he was summoned in order to assist them...apparently somebody killed them all." explained the scientist.

"Did he get killed too? Personally I was expecting his illness to do him in one day..." spoke the Sannin.

"By the looks of it, yes." answered Kabuto.

"No matter...so long as I still have Sasuke, I should be good to go." spoke Orochimaru.

Immediately, Kabuto left his master's chambers.

As he did so, he began to wonder who could have done to this to the Sound Four.

By the looks of it, they were a powerful ninja.

However, he got the strange feeling that whoever had done that to them was not actually a ninja...but someone else entirely.

"Interesting..." noted Kabuto.

Personally, he wanted to perform an autopsy on the Sound Four to see if he could find what had killed them.

However, he did not know where he could locate their bodies.

"Where did they go?" inquired the medical ninja.

Shrugging, he decided to go read some medical books. He wanted to do some experiments.

Maybe one day he could become as powerful as his master. That was a rather joyful thought.

Then again, he wasn't interested in learning all jutsus like Orochimaru was. He was actually fairly content with the jutsus he already had.

"Maybe I could try experimenting to create the ultimate ninja..." he thought.

_Meanwhile..._

"Wow...look at all the clones." thought Lucy.

As it turned out, Lucy had successfully managed to create no less than ten dozen clones of herself.

Of course, she could simply poke one with a kunai and it would disappear into a puff of smoke, but it was a success nonetheless.

She had to admit, she missed her old summons, but at least she managed to get a rather powerful one in her arsenal.

She was starting to wonder if she was going to need Natsu to save her again. With Naruto's abilities on the side, she was a lot stronger than before, and she personally wondered if she was now stronger than he was.

She had in fact saved Shikamaru from Totomaru when he created a rescue team to pull her fat out of the fire, and had done so somewhat easily.

"Wow...I'm going to have a lot of stories to tell if I get back home..." answered Lucy.

Now that she thought of it...would her father still want to take her back to her residence if he knew that she had a nine-tailed fox inside of her?

Then again, she was getting used to it rather quickly.

**"Sending in the clones, now are we?" **inquired Kurama.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I am." nodded Lucy.

**"Great. Now I have to look at your ugly face about ten dozen times." **answered the nine-tailed fox.

"Ha ha. Very funny." answered the summoner mage.

Suddenly, she noticed that Natsu was standing a short distance from her...by the looks of it, he was sparring with Team Guy.

In this case, he was up against Neji.

"Go, Natsu!" exclaimed Tenten.

"Go, Neji!" bellowed Rock Lee.

Sure enough, he was managing to hold his own against him despite his lack of self-confidence.

Then again, he had been regaining it slowly but surely.

Eventually, he managed to defeat Neji, causing Tenten to cheer and Rock Lee to applaud.

Neji then shook Natsu's hand.

"I didn't know I had it in me..." answered the fire mage.

"You had it in you. Trust me." nodded Neji.

Immediately, Natsu waved to Lucy.

"Hi, Natsu!" exclaimed Lucy.

Suddenly, Rock Lee blew Lucy a kiss.

"Whoa!" bellowed the kunoichi.

Tenten put her hands on her ribs.

"What?" asked Rock Lee.

"Do you have to do that every time you see an attractive female?" inquired Tenten.

"Sorry..." apologized the martial artist.

**"Who would want to kiss you? He must be drunk." **noted Kurama.

Immediately, Lucy dismissed her clones.

Kurama sighed in relief.

Shikamaru approached her shortly afterwards.

"I see that you've mastered Naruto's shadow clone technique..." noted the jonin.

"Yes, I have." nodded the kunoichi.

"Well, congratulations." answered Shikamaru.

"Thank you." spoke Lucy.

"Do you want to do another mission together? I've got time..." asked the shadow ninja.

"I'd love to...but I was thinking of doing a B-Rank Mission...Jiraiya said that I was ready to do one..." said Lucy.

"Did you get Tsunade's permission?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Yes, I did." nodded the summoner mage.

"Good...if you're going on a B-Rank Mission, you're going to need a medical ninja..." answered the shadow ninja.

"A medical ninja?" questioned Lucy.

"We're trying to minimize casualties." explained Shikamaru.

"Ah." nodded the summoner mage.

**"Is he your boyfriend?" **asked Kurama.

"Theres goes my nine-tailed fox." answered Lucy.

"That's life as a jinchuriki in a nutshell." noted Shikamaru.

Once again, Shikamaru went to sleep.

Lucy immediately went to the mission board to see if there were any available requests.

Sure enough, there was a mission that involved destroying a bandit village, as they had been stealing money from Konoha.

However, their leader in question happened to be a fairly powerful ninja.

"Sounds right up my ally." answered Lucy.

Immediately, she gathered Natsu and Gray to assist her in this task...

"Now, we just need a medical ninja." answered the kunoichi.

Suddenly, Juvia volunteered.

"Hmm? You want to be our medic?" inquired Lucy.

"According to this notebook Gray gave me...I should be able to use Sakon and Ukon's kekkei genkai to heal you if you get injured...likewise, I'll be able to enter your bodies if I get injured." answered Juvia.

"This body thing is creeping me out...but at least it's effective." noted Gray.

Natsu began to shiver.

"Yes, I know...my teammates inherited quite a few things from the Sound Four..." answered Juvia.

In fact, each of her teammates had obtained the abilities of each member of the Sound Four. Of course, Monsieur Sol was already able to manipulate earth, though he received a power boost nonetheless.

"I miss my teammates..." answered Juvia.

Immediately, they set out to deal with the bandits, who had set up camp not too far from Konoha.

Unfortunately, it appeared that they had bandit archers guarding it.

"Be careful." warned Lucy.

Natsu and Gray nodded.

_Meanwhile..._

Kimimaro let out a sigh. Gaara had been right the whole time. He really had been Orochimaru's puppet.

Personally he was tempted to stab himself with his bone sword and end it right in there.

But he figured since Naruto and Sakura had just saved his life, that would be rather foolhardy.

"What am I going to do?" inquired Kimimaro.

Maybe he could try running away and try living in solitude? Then again, his clan had told them not to run away with his problems.

Then again, they had told him to solve his problems with violence.

"That didn't turn out too well for them." thought Kimimaro.

Maybe he could turn himself into the authorities and go to prison? At least there he wouldn't stand out amongst everyone else.

Then again, considering his clan had deliberately raised him to be a serial killer, they might sympathize him with him and give him a second chance in life.

Now that he thought of it, he had been feeling much saner now that the cursed seal had been removed. Did it really have that much of an effect on his mind?

Finally, he came to a situation.

"I suppose I might as well join the guild that helped me..." answered Kimimaro.

Personally, he was rather intrigued at this magic concept. He hadn't been in the world of magic for long, and he was curious about this Fairy Tail guild.

Their guildmaster seemed reasonable enough.

Immediately, Kimimaro asked Makarov if he could join the guild.

Makarov nodded, and stamped the guild mark on his chest where his cursed seal had been previously.

"I guess it's time for me to start a new life..." he thought.

He had to admit, he was rather impressed that Sakura could heal his illness...then again, she was the apprentice of Tsunade, one of Orochimaru's former friends.

Personally he wondered why things couldn't have stayed that way. Orochimaru threw his friends behind him in his neverending quest for power.

And to think that he was willing to give his body to him.

Kimimaro let out a sigh. If only Orochimaru had actually cared about his wellbeing.

Suddenly, he noticed that there was a poster indicating that the S-Class Trial was about to begin.

"Hmm?" inquired the bone ninja as he picked up the poster.

"Do you want to join the S-Class Trial, Kimimaro?" inquired Makarov.

"Is there a particular reason I should do so?" asked Kimimaro.

"Well, you'll get to become a S-Class Mage...or in this case S-Class Ninja...you'll be considered one of the strongest members of our guild...this year we're going to be doing this tournament-style..." explained the guildmaster.

"Then I suppose I'll participate." answered the ninja.

"Very good! We're looking forward to seeing you there!" exclaimed Makarov.

Immediately, he left to get some coffee.

"I wonder if I can make it..." he thought.

_Well, it looks like Gajeel and Juvia aren't going to be the only ones leaving the side of darkness...yes, I let Kimimaro into Fairy Tail._

_For balancing purposes...I had Chiyoye drain his cursed seal. Nonetheless, he's going to be about as strong as Erza. That seems fair, right?_

_Speaking of Chiyoye...she has the Cursed Seal Of Heaven now...things aren't looking too good, are they?_

_Are you starting to see why Fairy Tail wants to stop her yet?_

_Toodles!_


	24. Chapter 24: The S-Class Trial

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, the S-Class Trial is going to begin...and Lucy and her friends are going to enter the bandit village and take on their leader._

_But unfortunately their leader will turn out not to be alone._

_Can you guess who are going to be participating in the S-Class Trial?_

**Chapter 24: The S-Class Trial**

Naruto let out a sigh. His manga had ended rather recently, and it looked like he and his friends weren't going to have any more adventures.

He was currently sitting on a chair, reading the last chapter.

"How sad." answered the genin.

Then again, all good things had to come to an end.

At least he was getting another movie.

"That's something to look forward to." noted the genin.

Not only that, but Fairy Tail was still going strong.

At that very moment, Erza came by.

"Hey there, Erza." answered Naruto.

"How are you doing?" inquired the knight.

"Pretty good, pretty good. At least my fanfics seem to be living on after my manga ended..." noted the genin.

"They probably always will." answered Erza.

"I heard that they're having a S-Class Trial so that Fairy Tail can decide who their next S-Class Mage is." spoke Naruto.

"They actually invited you." spoke the knight.

"Really? They did? Did they invite you too?" inquired the genin.

"I'm already an S-Class Mage." explained Erza.

"Oh. Never mind then." answered Naruto.

"So did your friends Hinata and Sakura..." explained the S-Class Mage.

"That's interesting." nodded the genin.

Immediately, he lifted himself off his chair and went to go prepare himself for battle.

From the looks of it, it was going to be quite a tournament.

He proceeded to examine the roster.

"Let's see now...there's Hinata, Sakura...Gajeel...Cana...myself...Elfman...Levy...and would you look at that, Kimimaro." answered the genin.

Shortly afterwards, a mage beckoned him to the battle arena.

"This reminds me a bit of the Chunin Exams..." spoke Naruto.

Sure enough, there was a generator to determine who was going to fight who first.

Laxus was serving as the referee once again.

"Hey there!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Greetings." answered the thunder mage.

As it turned out, he was up against Gajeel Redfox.

"Uh-oh..." thought the genin.

Gajeel sweatdropped. Was he going to have to beat Naruto up again?

Shrugging, he stepped into the arena along with Naruto.

"3, 2, 1, fight!" exclaimed Laxus.

Gajeel immediately started off by tossing some rather sharp-looking knives at Naruto, who frantically ducked underneath them.

He then followed by turning his arm into a sword and then swinging it at the genin.

In retaliation, he hit him with his Rasengan, which actually managed to significantly injure him.

"Gah!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

However, he was not down for the count yet.

Deciding that he needed to fight more defensively, he then covered his skin with some iron scales.

"How am I going to get past that?" inquired Naruto.

He then followed by punching Naruto in the face and knocking him down.

"Ow..." murmured the genin.

However, as Gajeel recalled correctly, Naruto was not the one to give up easily.

Immediately, he began to create some clones in order to protect himself.

"Trying to make some meat shields are we? Not too bad of a strategy." noted the iron dragonslayer.

However, Gajeel had a way to counter that.

Immediately, he began to use his metalbending abilities to create restraints to pin the clones to the wall.

They immediately exploded into smoke, much to Gajeel's satisfaction.

However, he quickly noticed that the real Naruto was not among them.

"Huh? Where did he go?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

Gajeel's question was answered when suddenly Naruto hit him with another Rasengan, causing his armor to shatter.

"Agh!" screamed the dragonslayer.

"Huh. I'm actually holding my own against him without using my summons." answered the genin.

Now that he thought of it...shouldn't he be doing that?

Shrugging, Naruto decided to summon Loke...who immediately entered the arena.

"I thought you said that the audience couldn't participate?" inquired Happy.

"They can if they're a summon spirit..." answered Makarov.

"No fair! Why can't I be a summon spirit!" complained the Exceed.

Curious, Naruto noticed that Hinata and Sakura were both cheering him on. Kimimaro also seemed to be cheering as well, though he didn't seem nearly as excited.

On the other hand, Levy and Cana were both rooting for Gajeel.

Loke immediately hit Gajeel with a Twister, sending him flying and causing him a lot of pain.

"Agh!" bellowed the iron dragonslayer.

At this point, he was having trouble standing.

Getting desperate, Gajeel began to throw a flurry at knives at Naruto, pinning him to the wall.

"A little help here?" inquired the genin.

Unfortunately, Loke had spotted a rather attractive female amongst the audience, and he immedaitely went to flirt with her.

"Oh man..." murmured Naruto.

"Are you going to surrender yet?" inquired Gajeel.

But as before, Naruto was not one to give up.

Managing to set one of his hands free, he immediately summoned Aquarius.

However, she wasn't looking forward to working for Naruto.

"Why should I help you?" inquired the Celestial Spirit.

"I think he's staring at your body." answered the genin.

"What?!" exclaimed Aquarius.

Oddly enough, Gajeel actually was staring at Aquarius's body.

To make a long story short, she was not amused. She immediately hit Gajeel with a tidal wave, sending him flying once again.

This time, he was down for the count...as Laxus quickly demonstrated to the audience.

"Naruto Uzumaki is our winner! Gajeel Redfox is out of the S-Class Trial!" exclaimed the thunder mage.

"Well, it looks like I'm still in the game." answered the genin.

Levy, Cana, Hinata, Elfman, Mirajane, and Elfman all applauded Naruto.

Kimimaro simply smiled.

Shortly afterwards, some mages appeared to heal Naruto and Gajeel's injuries.

"Good fight..." answered the iron dragonslayer as he went towards the bleachers to watch the rest of the S-Class Trial.

He may have lost the trial, but at least he could watch the remaining battles, right?

"Thank you." nodded Naruto as he went to the bleachers.

Once again, the scrambler decided who was going to fight who.

This time, it was Hinata Hyuga vs. Sakura Haruno.

"Funny, didn't Natsu and Gray always argue with each other?" thought Naruto.

Personally he was wondering if this had spread to Hinata and Sakura as well, due to their respective interdimensional partners.

Sure enough, Hinata and Sakura both stepped into the arena.

"Who should I root for?" thought Naruto.

"3, 2, 1, fight!" exclaimed Laxus.

Immediately, Hinata created a ring of fire around herself to protect her from Sakura's attacks.

"Wouldn't want her hitting me now..." thought the kunoichi.

In contrast, Sakura immediately went on the offensive, trying to use her ice magic to extinguish the barrier.

She pressed her hand on the ground, and summoned a Vulcan.

Immediately, he began to throw snowballs at Hinata from above the barrier.

"Not another one..." thought Hinata.

As it turned out, she had been shuffling through the Fairy Tail library and had found out how to summon them.

However, Hinata retaliated with some firepower of her own, which instantly defeated the Vulcan.

Unfortunately for Hinata, Sakura was able to leap above the barrier.

"Let's settle this mano-to-mano, shall we?" inquired the kunoichi.

Immediately, she began attacking her opponent with her fists.

However, Hinata retaliated with her Gentle Fist technique, sending Sakura flying into the barrier.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Sakura as she was burned by the flames.

Thankfully, due to the rules that had been set in place for the S-Class Trials, Hinata had set the flames to a rather low temperature.

However, it was still painful nonetheless.

Sakura once again leaped over the flames, but this time Hinata was ready.

Immediately, she began to perform her Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique.

Unfortunately for Sakura, she was caught in the circle.

"This can't be good..." thought Sakura.

Sure enough, Sakura found herself being hit no less than sixty-four times, and she began to feel very weak.

"Ugh..." murmured the kunoichi.

Immediately, she found herself being unable to stand.

"Did I win?" asked Hinata curiously.

Laxus counted down from 10. Sure enough, Sakura could not get up.

"Hinata Hyuga is our winner! Sakura Haruno is out of the S-Class Trial!" exclaimed the referee.

Hinata let out a sigh of relief. She was still in the game.

Sakura Haruno sighed out of sadness. It looked like she was going to have to try again next year.

Hinata Hyuga shook Sakura's hand.

Once again, they went to the bleachers to continue watching the combatants fight as two healing mages healed their injuries.

This time, it was Cana Alberona up against Elfman Strauss.

Immediately, she began to sweatdrop.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to win this fight..." noted the card mage.

At least she could try, right?

Immediately, she began to shoot cards at Elfman, cutting him in the face.

"Ugh!" exclaimed Elfman.

"Well, at least I managed to injure him..." noted Cana.

However, Elfman responded by picking up Cana and tossing her to the ground.

"Can I have a drink?" asked the alcoholic.

Elfman handed Cana some liquor.

"Thank you." answered the card mage as she downed it in one gulp.

She then hit Elfman on the head with the bottle.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the beast mage.

"Yeah...I'm a bit of an improviser." noted Cana.

However, at that very moment, Elfman began to transform into his animal form.

"Uh-oh..." thought the female mage.

He then began to claw at Cana, causing her to pass out from fright.

Elfman transformed back into his regular form shortly afterwards.

Cana was down for the count, as Laxus explained.

"Elfman Strauss is our winner! Cana Alberona is out of the S-Class Trial!" exclaimed Laxus.

Cana woke up shortly afterwards as two healing mages healed both combatant's injuries.

"I'm going to go drown my sorrows." said the card mage.

Immediately, she went to the nearest tavern.

"I wonder if I'm going to become an S-Class Mage just like my sister..." thought Elfman. He had done better than the last time he had participated in an S-Class Trial.

_Elfman Strauss climbed up a mountain along with his sister Mirajane. Whoever reached the top first was going to be the winner and would obtain the title of an S-Class Mage._

_However, shortly after he began climbing the mountain, he encountered something scary._

_"Aah! It's a spider!" bellowed Elfman._

_The spider in question happened to be rather small, as it happened to be male._

_Immediately, he fled for the hills, leaving Mirajane alone to climb the mountain._

_"Elfman? Elfman?" inquired the future S-Class mage._

_Mirajane let out a sigh. It looked like she was climbing the mountain alone._

_As she did so, she noticed that the small spider in question had a mate that was far larger spinning a web a few feet away from him._

_"Aww, look how cute that big spider is!" exclaimed Mirajane as she continued climbing._

"On the plus side, my sister did manage to earn the title of an S-Class Mage that time..." thought Elfman.

If only he had been braver, maybe he would have won.

No matter. He had a second chance and he wasn't going to let an arachnid scare him this time.

Hinata and Mirajane had both encountered a spider and had survived, and quite frankly, so could he.

The last fighters were Round 1 were of course Levy McGarden and Kimimaro Kaguya, since they were the only ones left.

"3, 2, 1, fight!" exclaimed Laxus.

Immediately, Levy McGarden and Kimimaro Kaguya began to fight.

However, it quickly became apparent that Kimimaro had a distinct advantage.

Though Levy had quite a varied arsenal at her disposal, Kimimaro was able to counter every single one of her attacks.

Levy tried scorching him on fire, pelting him with water, zapping him with lightning bolts, and hitting him with a rock, but none of them were too effective.

"Am I going to get curb-stomped like Cana was?" inquired Levy.

Unfortunately, yes she was.

Immediately Kimimaro summoned a pterodactyl to help him defeat Levy.

As it turned out, due to the fact that each member of the Sound Four (including Jirobo, who had finally obtained a summon of his own a year before his demise) had their own summon, he had decided to practice summoning creatures as well.

As it turned out, his forte was summoning dinosaurs.

Of course, technically the pterodactly wasn't actually a dinosaur...but apparently his summoner contract wasn't that literal.

Then again, that wasn't much of a surprise considering what his second stage of his cursed seal looked like...before Chiyoye drained it to increase her combat abilities.

Immediately, the pterodactyl picked up Levy and began to lift her up into the sky.

"This isn't good..." thought Levy.

She hit the ground very hard, and she immediately collapsed on the floor.

She was down for the count.

"Kimimaro Kaguya is our winner! Levy McGarden is out of the S-Class Trial!" exclaimed Laxus.

Two healing mages healed Levy and Kimimaro, even though the latter was very much still able to fight another battle.

"I guess I'm the only girl left." noted Hinata.

Kimimaro smiled in satisfaction. Personally he was expecting that he would lose rather quickly due to the fact that he no longer had access to his cursed seal.

Then again, the removal of his cursed seal was probably for the best. It did make Sasuke Uchiha do some rather twisted things.

Once again, the scrambler began to decide who was going to fight who. It didn't take long considering that there were only four combatants left.

This time, it was Naruto Uzumaki...

...versus Hinata Hyuga.

"Um..." answered Naruto.

Hinata sweatdropped.

Naruto and Hinata both entered the arena. It was going to be rather awkward fighting each other considering that they were childhood friends.

But at least they would be able to test out their combat abilities.

"3, 2, 1, fight!" exclaimed Laxus.

Once again, Hinata set up a ring of fire to protect herself. Since she wasn't very enthusiastic about punching Naruto in the face, she decided that she would instead try fighting defensively.

Likewise, Naruto wasn't looking forward to hitting Hinata as well.

As such, he decided to have his celestial spirits do his fighting for him. That way he wouldn't technically be fighting Hinata himself.

Knowing that Hinata's eyes were her weakness, Naruto decided to summon Scorpius.

"Hey there! Could you try putting sand in Hinata's eyes for me? I figure that would make life a lot easier..." noted the genin.

Scorpius nodded, and began to kick sand towards Hinata.

However, she quickly brushed the sand away. Apparently, she was somewhat aware that Naruto would try that.

"I guess I'm going to have to try to put out the fire..." thought the genin.

However, Aquarius didn't seem too enthusiastic to listening to him, so he couldn't just summon a tidal wave to extinguish the ring of fire.

"I've got to find a way to get her to obey me..." noted Naruto.

Unfortunately for Naruto, Hinata was taking the opportunity to shoot fireballs at him that passed directly through the ring of fire.

"I'm going to be cremated if one of those hits me..." noted Naruto as he performed some evasive manuevers.

Curious, he began to summon some clones to help him defeat Hinata. Hopefully they would be able to find something that he could use to put out the fire.

Unfortunately, the clones were stupid and went directly through the ring of fire, reducing themselves to ash.

However, he then noticed that there was now an opening for him to attack.

Immediately, he hit Hinata with one of his Rasengan.

"Aah!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Well, I finally managed to get a hit in..." noted Naruto.

However, it appeared that Hinata had fainted. That attack must have caught her by surprise.

Shrugging, Laxus began to perform a countdown.

As it turned out, Hinata was down for the count.

"Naruto Uzumaki is our winner! Hinata Hyuga is out of the S-Class Trial!" exclaimed Laxus.

Hinata woke up shortly afterwards.

"Did I hurt you?" inquired Naruto.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." answered the kunoichi.

"I guess I'm in the top 2 now..." noted the genin.

"You sure are. Congratulations, Naruto." answered Hinata.

Hinata and Naruto both went to sit in the bleachers after the healing mages healed them up.

Of course, the next battle was between Elfman Strauss and Kimimaro Kaguya...since they were the only ones still left in the semifinals.

"3, 2, 1, fight!" exclaimed Laxus.

Immediately, Elfman Strauss transformed into his animal form to help him defeat Kimimaro.

However, Kimimaro retaliated by summoning a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"Wow..." answered Sakura.

"You think this is the same one from Jurassic Park?" inquired Naruto.

"Probably not." answered Hinata.

Immediately, the Tyrannosaurus Rex took a bite out of Elfman.

Thankfully, Kimimaro ordered the T-Rex not to bite down as hard as he could, so he wasn't seriously injured.

However, Elfman responded by punching the T-Rex's teeth out.

"Oh dear..." murmured Levy.

Unfortunately for Kimimaro, the T-Rex's teeth were his only real strength. His feeble arms weren't a match for Elfman's bulging muscles.

Elfman punched him in the gut, and he collapsed on the floor.

"Well, so much for my Tyrannosaurus Rex...at least he tried." noted Kimimaro.

Curious, he wondered if he should try summoning a different dinosaur. Surely, there was a different one that he could use that was more effective against Elfman.

Suddenly, he got an idea.

Immediately, he summoned a Triceratops, which let out a roar.

"This is going to be good." noted Naruto.

The Triceratops then charged at Elfman, piercing him with her horns.

"Yeow!" bellowed Elfman.

"He can still talk in his animal form?" inquired Sakura.

"Apparently he can now." nodded Naruto.

"Those horns sure are useful..." noted Kimimaro.

However, Elfman managed to grab the Triceratops and throw it towards Kimimaro, who leapt out of the way.

Shrugging, Kimimaro decided that he needed to use the weapon that would work against an animal.

After a few moments of thinking, he gave himself the answer.

Suddenly, he reached into his spine and pulled out the bone protecting his spinal cord.

He then began to whip Elfman into submission.

"Ouch! Ow! Oof! Aah! Ouchies!" bellowed Elfman.

"Deja vu." said Gajeel and Naruto in unison.

Immediately, Elfman began to transform back into his regular form.

Elfman tried to continue fighting, but Kimimaro stabbed him with a bone sword, and he collapsed on the ground.

He was down for the count.

"Kimimaro Kaguya is our winner! Elfman Strauss is out of the S-Class Trial!" exclaimed Laxus.

Of course, it was now between Naruto Uzumaki and Kimimaro Kaguya.

"This is the finale, everyone! Whoever wins this fight shall become an S-Class Mage...or should we say S-Class Ninja! 3, 2, 1, fight!" exclaimed Laxus.

Immediately, Naruto began to summon a horde of clones to help him defeat Kimimaro.

However, Kimimaro was able to take them all down very quickly without spending too much chakra.

"This reminds me of our last battle so long ago..." answered the genin.

"I know." nodded Kimimaro.

Kimimaro then followed by trying to slash Naruto with his bone sword.

However, he was able to avoid the strikes, as he was rather fast.

Naruto began trying to combo Kimimaro using taijutsu, but unfortunately the bones that emerged from his body quickly put a stop to that.

"I can't take him down with my bare hands, it seems." thought Naruto.

He was going to have to try a different tactic.

Shrugging, he decided to use his Rasengan. That seemed as good of a tactic as any.

However, Kimimaro was able to shield himself from it.

"Darn it! He's just as strong as ever!" exclaimed Naruto.

Apparently, having his illness removed from his body was helping him make up for his lack of cursed seal.

However, Naruto then remembered that he now had an advantage that he previously did not during his last encounter with him.

"Oh, that's right...the Celestial Spirits." said Naruto.

This time, he summoned Taurus to help him defeat Kimimaro.

"Can you charge at him for me?" asked the genin.

"Yes, sir!" nodded Taurus.

As he did so, he waved at Hinata and Sakura.

"Is he hitting on us?" asked Hinata.

"I should punch him later..." noted Sakura.

Oddly enough, Naruto actually managed to hit Kimimaro this time.

However, he quickly retaliated by summoning an Ankylosaurus.

"Uh-oh." thought Naruto.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that it was protected by some rather impressive armor, Taurus was unable to harm her.

The same did not apply for the ankylosaurus itself, who was able to send Taurus flying with one swing of her club.

"Mooo..." murmured Taurus as he fainted.

Sighing, Naruto dismissed his Celestial Spirit.

Kimimaro then followed by summoning two velociraptors to attack Naruto. Frantically, he began to run away.

Unfortunately, the velociraptors were smart and began attacking him from two different directions.

"Why do velociraptors have to be so clever?" thought Naruto.

Sighing, he decided to summon the Gemini Twins to help him deal with them.

Thankfully, they were able to keep him busy.

However, the ankylosaurus managed to hit him with her club and sent him flying.

"Aah!" exclaimed Naruto.

He was sent flying out of the arena, which counted as a loss.

"And our winner is...Kimimaro Kaguya!" exclaimed Laxus.

Kimimaro actually smiled upon hearing this. He had to admit, he wasn't really looking forward to starting a new life...but if he was considered to be one of the best in his current life, maybe it wasn't so bad.

Laxus immediately took him to a hall where the other S-Class Mages were waiting for him. Immediately, they began to applaud.

"You did it!" cheered Gildarts.

"Not bad." spoke Erza.

"Way to go!" exclaimed Mirajane.

"I salute you." said Laxus.

"I guess I'm the fifth S-Class Mage now...or S-Class Ninja." said Kimimaro.

"I suppose you're our first S-Class Ninja." answered Erza.

Immediately, she left the guild hall to look for Naruto, who looked rather content on getting second place.

"Congratulations on getting second place. Maybe next year you'll actually be able to win." noted Erza.

"Yeah...maybe I will." nodded Naruto.

"By the way, each S-Class candidate that didn't manage to win gets a consolation prize." said Erza.

"They do?" inquired the genin.

Immediately, Erza handed Naruto a present.

As it turned out, it was a Makarov bobblehead.

"Yes!" cheered Naruto.

Naturally, Elfman, Hinata, Sakura, Gajeel, Levy, and Cana received consolation prizes as well.

"I get some metal to eat. Not bad." noted Gajeel.

"Yes! I got an action figure!" exclaimed Elfman.

Hinata squealed upon getting a Natsu action figure.

"I get a punching bag that resembles Naruto...well, now I have another way to take out my rage on him." answered Sakura.

"Finally! Now I can read the last book of Harry Potter!" exclaimed Levy.

"Perfect! I got some alcohol!" bellowed Cana.

"Well, I'm glad that this trial turned out well." noted Naruto.

Immediately, he went back to his apartment to call it a day.

_Meanwhile..._

Unfortunately for the foursome, the bandit archers noticed them, and they began to shoot arrows.

Fortunately, Gray was able to shoot icicles at them in retaliation, causing them to pass out.

However, their problems were not over yet.

As it turned out, the bandits had beasts of prey that they could use in the event they ended up being attacked.

Immediately, a gorilla punched Natsu in the face.

"Ouch!" bellowed Natsu.

He then picked up Gray and threw her at Juvia, who landed right on top of her.

Immediately, their cheeks turned red.

Fortunately, Lucy was able to counter with some beasts of her own, and summoned a jaguar to scare away the gorilla.

However, the bandits had a jaguar of their own.

"Things can't be this simple, now can they?" inquired the kunoichi.

Immediately, the jaguar bit Natsu in the arse.

"Ouch!" bellowed the fire mage.

It then began to tear at Lucy's ninja outfit.

"Hey!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Thankfully, she was able to scare it off by creating some clones of herself.

"Not the clothing damage again...then again, this hasn't happened in a while..." noted Lucy.

Fortunately, her ninja outfit wasn't heavily damaged.

However, bandits were beginning to attack the foursome with their daggers.

"Give us your money!" bellowed one of the bandits.

"We know where you live!" exclaimed another bandit.

"Do we actually know where they live?" asked a third bandit.

"We know that they live in Konoha, don't we?" inquired the second bandit.

**"And I live inside your body." **said Kurama.

"Yes, you do..." nodded Lucy.

And to make matters worse for the four, more bandit archers had appeared...and they had set their arrows on fire.

Fortunately for Natsu, he happened to be fireproof, though the arrowheads could still enter his bloodstream nonetheless.

Immediately, Lucy and Natsu took shelter, while Juvia shielded Gray with her body.

Thankfully, due to her ability to convert her body into water, the arrows weren't hurting her much.

"Thanks." answered Gray.

Using her summoner abilities, Lucy summoned some crows to attack the bandit archers.

"Get them off me!" bellowed one of the archers.

Once again, Lucy's summoning abilities were coming in handy.

Juvia then followed by sending a tidal wave to wash the bandits away.

However, they were sending in some bandits that happened to know some jutsus.

In this case, these bandits were able to camouflage themselves.

"Where did they go?" inquired Gray.

Curious, Natsu used his Byakugan to pinpoint their locations.

He then followed by shooting fireballs at them.

Likewise, Lucy summoned a pair of tracking hounds.

Suffice to say, this camouflage ability did not turn out to be too useful for them.

The bandits however were anything if not persistent. They began to create clones of themselves in order to swell their numbers.

Much like Naruto's clones, they exploded upon hit, so they weren't too much of a hassle.

Nonetheless, it was still making life more difficult for them.

And to make matters worse, one of the bandits had gone off to go alert their leader.

"Who is their leader anyway? I don't believe they went over it during our mission briefing..." noted Lucy.

_Meanwhile..._

"Mistress Setsuna, we've got terrible news! Konoha has decided to fight back against us! They've sent four of their ninja to invade our camp...and they're doing a good job at it!" exclaimed one of the bandits.

Setsuna sighed.

"I should have known that they were going to attack us eventually..." noted Setsuna.

As it turned out, Setsuna was the leader of the bandits...she happened to wear a white kimono to go with her long white hair, and was wearing a pair of black sandals.

She also happened to wield a sword...a katana, to be specific.

"Alright then...I guess I'm going to have to find a way to take care of this..." spoke Setsuna.

Fortunately for Setsuna, she happened to be quite skilled at wind jutsus, and was very agile.

Immediately, she began to summon a wind clone to help her defeat her enemies.

Unlike Naruto's shadow clones, this one was going to take more than one hit to take out.

Granted, it was still fairly fragile...but she was pretty good at avoiding taking hits. By extension, her clones were not too bad at avoiding being hit as well.

"Right...do me a favor and deal with the intruders, will you? I just obtained a huge amount of ryo from Konoha recently and I don't want it to go to waste." explained Setsuna.

The clone nodded, and went to go search for the intruders.

As it did so, Setsuna thought back as to how she became the leader of the bandits in the first place.

To be honest, she hadn't really intended on becoming the bandit leader. She was just tired of them making sexist remarks about women.

She had simply approached their camp one day while she was on a walk and they began to laugh at her.

In retaliation, she began to slash and cut them in rapid succession.

Immediately, they wanted her to be their leader due to how strong she was. As it turned out, their former leader wasn't a ninja and therefore wouldn't be a match against her.

Thus, he decided to give up his title to her...and stopped making sexist comments about women while he was at it.

Nonetheless, she found that she enjoyed her new occupation. Her bandits would give her virtually everything that she wanted.

However, she was a bit worried that her bandits would not be able to handle Konoha ninja. She had heard not long ago that Captain Bloodbeard and his pirate crew had been arrested by Konoha forces.

It was a shame. She was actually hoping to team up with him one day so that together they could loot Konoha and strip it of its most valuable resources.

Then again, they might make sexist comments about her too.

_Meanwhile..._

"Quit slacking off! We don't have all day here!" exclaimed Shizune.

"Yarr! I'm doing the best I can!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard.

"Then why were you snoozing when I saw you?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I was just resting me eye!" exclaimed the captain.

"Get back to work!" demanded Tsunade's apprentice.

Reluctantly, the pirates went back to work.

"I wonder how long it's going to take for them to work up their debt to society..." thought Shizune.

She had to admit, they sure had a lot to answer for.

At that very moment, Tsunade approached her.

"Hello, Mistress Tsunade!" exclaimed Shizune, giving her a salute.

"How close are they to working off my gambling debt?" asked Tsunade.

"They've still got quite a ways to go. I think we're going to need more workers." spoke the kunoichi.

"I suppose we probably will." nodded the Sannin.

"Where are we going to get some?" inquired Shizune.

"I suppose we'll just have to get Lucy and her friends to bust more criminals." answered Tsunade.

"I'm not cut out for this!" bellowed Takeshi.

"Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you became a psychopath." suggested the Sannin.

"This isn't fair!" screamed the maniac as he weeded Tsunade's garden.

"I sure am glad that Kankuro managed to catch him again..." noted the Sannin.

"Yeah...imagine all the trouble he would have caused otherwise." answered Shizune.

"Once I get out of this slavery I'm going to kill you!" bellowed Takeshi.

"Good luck with that. I'm one of the legendary Sannin, and you've only mastered basic ninja techniques." answered Tsunade.

"One of these days I'm going to kill you!" screamed the ninja.

"Should we leave him to his imagination?" asked Shizune.

"Maybe. I'm not sure if I want to see what's going on in his head, though." answered the Sannin.

"Me neither." agreed Tsunade's apprentice.

_Meanwhile..._

Might Guy noticed that Rock Lee was not focusing on his training, and began to wonder what was going on.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Might Guy.

"Sakura got trapped in an alternate dimension." explained Rock Lee.

"What? She did? Oh, that's right...Tsunade explained that to us..." noted the jonin.

"I hope that she's OK..." noted the martial artist.

As it turned out, Tenten was sparring with Neji.

"I'm sure that she'll be fine. You know how strong she is." said Might Guy.

"True...still, I have to wonder where she went." answered Rock Lee.

"I will admit that Naruto and Hinata have already gone before her..." answered the jonin.

"That's true." nodded Rock Lee.

Personally he had heard that a young man by the name of Gray Fullbuster had taken his place. In addition to his ice manipulation techniques, he had inherited her super strength and well as her temper.

He began to wonder what would happen if he tried using an interdimensional portal. Would he end up becoming interdimensional partners with someone else?

It seemed to be different with everyone, judging from what had happened to Lucy and Natsu.

Then again, it didn't seem to be harmful towards them, though admittedly the former had inherited Naruto's nine-tailed fox and was therefore stuck with a ferocious beast inside her.

"It might be worth a shot..." noted Rock Lee. He sure found it interesting to suddenly be much more powerful than before and to have a new set of abilities.

Maybe he could get a ninjutsu-like skill to go with his taijutsu?

"That would be interesting..." thought Rock Lee. Considering how good he was at martial arts, that certainly would give him an advantage over other taijutsu users.

On the other hand, he might end up being cursed with something similar to how Lucy was.

"I might want to think things through before I jump through an interdimensional portal..." answered Rock Lee.

Then again, if it meant seeing Sakura again, he was all up for it.

Immediately, he decided to resume his training.

"That's better!" exclaimed Might Guy.

He had to admit, he had been improving significantly over the past few weeks.

If he kept it up, he just might surpass his master.

It was actually a bit scary.

Nonetheless, he decided that he wanted to keep on going. Tsunade didn't heal his limbs for nothing.

_Meanwhile..._

Hinata was staring at her picture of Natsu. She had to admit, it was rather nice of Makarov to give her a picture of him as a present for making it to the top four in the S-Class Trial.

"You like Natsu, don't you?" inquired Happy.

"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?" asked Hinata.

"You've been staring at that picture for a long time." noted the Exceed.

Hinata's cheeks turned red.

"I suppose I have." nodded the kunoichi.

"I bet you can't wait to meet Natsu in the flesh!" exclaimed Happy.

"Well, I am rather excited about it. Then again, I imagine you would be happy to see him again too...as your name would suggest." noted Hinata.

"Of course I would!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"I wouldn't imagine that it would be too long before we get to see him again now...I've got a feeling." said the kunoichi.

"Hooray!" cheered Happy.

"By the way, I got to see his mentor, Igneel." spoke Hinata.

"Did you now?" inquired the Exceed.

"As a matter of fact, I did. He actually helped me learn some tricks..." explained the kunoichi.

"So that's how you were able to defeat Sakura." said Happy.

"I suppose...I couldn't defeat Naruto though. He's probably the strongest ninja in the history of ever." spoke Hinata.

"Is he now?" inquired the Exceed.

"Well, that's what I think of him." answered the kunoichi.

"Do you think Natsu is the strongest mage in the history of ever?" inquired Happy.

Hinata's cheeks turned red again.

"Why do you ask?" asked the kunoichi.

"No reason." answered Happy.

Curious, Hinata noticed that Happy let out a small giggle when he said that.

"I'm going to bed. See you later, Happy." said the fire ninja.

"Good night!" exclaimed Happy as he went to bed as well.

"This S-Class Trial was quite a hassle...but at least I wasn't one of the first to go..." she thought.

Maybe one day she could become an S-Class Mage herself...or maybe an S-Class Ninja.

That sure sounded like something that she could look forward to. Then again, she was going to have to wait another year for another S-Class Trial...unless they decide to reschedule it.

So it looks like she was just going to have to do more missions for now.

"Zzz..." murmured Hinata as she went to sleep.

_Meanwhile..._

Shikamaru let out a sigh. He had heard a rumor that Kenichi was on the move once again...and that he was still in the Land Of Fire somewhere.

Then again, not everything he had heard about him was actually true.

"I hope Lucy and her friends are safe...I wouldn't want anything to happen to them..." he thought.

After all, she did help him when he assembled a retrieval squad to get her out of the Element 4's clutches.

He had to admit, she managed to assemble a force about as quickly as he did.

It was good to see that they shared the same talent.

"Maybe she'll be fine." thought Shikamaru.

Immediately, he went to sleep.

_Lucy and her friends have successfully infilitrated the bandit camp...but unfortunately their leader happens to be a rather experienced ninja herself. Not good._

_Is the rumor of Kenichi still being in the Land Of Fire true?_

_In the next chapter, we're going to see more action...including Setsuna herself and what she can do. See you!_


	25. Chapter 25: The Bandit Queen

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Lucy and her friends are going to take on the Bandit Queen...you've been waiting for a confrontation, now haven't you?_

_Oh, and Naruto and his friends are going to try to slay a vampire! Hooray._

**Chapter 25: The Bandit Queen**

Lucy and her friends were starting to get a bit bored. To be honest, taking out these bandits was becoming too easy.

Then again, the bandits were losing morale rather quickly.

However, as it turned out, things were going to start getting more difficult.

Suddenly, Setsuna's wind clone appeared.

"Mistress? Is that you?" asked one of the bandits.

"I'm one of her clones, actually." explained the wind clone.

"Oh...help us! Please!" exclaimed the bandits.

"I'm working on it." nodded the clone.

Immediately, she pulled out a katana.

"Uh-oh..." thought Lucy.

With a few slashes of her sword, a small tornado appeared and began to juggle Natsu, who began to feel motion sick.

"Ugh..." murmured Natsu.

"Thank goodness this is only a clone..." noted Lucy. From what she could tell, a duplicate a ninja created of themselves was always much weaker than the original.

Nonetheless, this clone seemed to be a tad bit stronger than the bandits they had faced earlier.

Immediately, the wind clone began to try to slash Lucy, whose ninja outfit ended up being slashed.

"Aw man..." complained Lucy.

She then followed by trying to slash Gray, who countered with an ice sword.

"This clone is fast." noted the ice mage.

Apparently, they were going to have to stay on their feet if they wanted to take down the clone.

Immediately, he began to participate in a swordfight with Setsuna's doppelganger. Thankfully, she wasn't as good as swordplay as her original counterpart.

Juvia took the opportunity to flank the clone with her three-armed punch, which was rather successful.

Immediately, the clone was knocked on her feet.

Gray then followed by stabbing the clone with his ice sword, causing it to explode into a burst of wind.

"Well, that wasn't so bad." noted Lucy.

"I don't think this is over yet though..." acknowledged Gray.

"True..." nodded the summoner mage.

At that very moment, the former bandit chief appeared, and began to rally the bandits together.

"They're ready for an all-out assault!" exclaimed Natsu.

"That's not good." nodded Juvia.

Immediately, the bandits began to swarm the foursome.

"It looks like we're going to have to make a stand here..." noted Lucy.

Natsu began to feel rather nervous.

Juvia started off by launching a miniature tidal wave at the bandits, causing them to collapse on the floor.

Gray then followed by dropping icicles on the bandits, which sure enough proved to be rather sharp.

Natsu then shot several fireballs at the bandits...though he was still rather woozy from the tornado that Setsuna's clone had summoned, he was still going strong nonetheless.

Lastly, Lucy decided to attack the bandits with something rather ironic...a flock of magpies.

"Agh!" exclaimed one of the bandits.

"Get them off me!" bellowed another bandit.

"They're trying to take my jewels!" exclaimed a third bandit.

"Well, that worked surprising well." noted Lucy.

However, she quickly discovered that the former bandit chief was now piloting what appeared to be a war machine.

"Something tells me they're starting to get rather desperate." spoke Lucy.

Natsu's face was covered with sweat.

Immediately, the war machine began to shoot several cannonballs.

"Look out!" exclaimed Gray.

This was then followed by the war machine charging straight towards them.

"Oh my..." noted Juvia.

It appeared that they were going to have to work together once again in order to take down the machine.

"Give it up! You're finished!" bellowed the bandit chief.

"I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch." said Lucy.

"Funny, I believe that I stole a flock of chickens last week..." answered the former bandit chief.

"OK..." answered Natsu.

_Meanwhile..._

Curious, Naruto decided that it was about time to accept another request. Surely he would do better at the S-Class Trials next year if he became stronger?

Then again, he might not actually be at Fairy Tail next year.

Nonetheless, he decided that he wanted to help the citizens of Fiore again.

This time, he had the peculiar request to slay a vampire.

"Hmm...this sounds rather risky." noted Naruto. Inevitably, the vampire was going to want to drink his blood.

Curious, he wondered if any of his friends wanted to participate in this mission.

Sure enough, Hinata was nearby, licking the flames from another torch.

"Hey there, Hinata! Do you want to help me with a mission again?" inquired Naruto.

"Huh? Sure!" nodded Hinata.

"OK then! Let's become vampireslayers, shall we?" exclaimed Naruto.

"I might become the next Buffy..." murmured the kunoichi.

"The next Buffy? Well, admittedly, I'm the blonde here..." noted the genin.

"But you're not a girl." answered Hinata.

"Fair enough." nodded Naruto.

Curious, he noticed that Sakura was nearby as well, and she was punching a punching bag with her fists, which were currently coated in ice.

"Maybe I should start calling myself the Avalanche...since I have super strength to go with my new ice powers..." thought Sakura.

"Sakura, can you help me with this mission as well?" inquired the genin curiously.

"Sure...what do you need help with?" asked Sakura.

"I'm trying to slay a vampire." explained Naruto.

"Alright then." nodded the medical ninja.

"Um, Sakura...you're taking off your pants." warned the genin.

Frantically, Sakura put them back on.

Curious, he noticed that Gajeel was nearby as well, eating a sword.

"Gajeel, can you help me? I know that we were enemies in the past but..." answered the genin.

"Is there going to be combat?" inquired Gajeel.

"As a matter of fact, there is. I need you to help me slay a vampire..." spoke Naruto.

"A vampire? Alright then." nodded the iron dragonslayer.

Curious, Naruto decided to see where he needed to go to complete the mission.

As it turned out, the vampire lived in a dark, spooky castle near a small town by the name of Scaryvania.

"Scaryvania? Go figure." answered Naruto.

Immediately, the four set out to go search for the vampire.

"Hmm...it says that Scaryvania is to the east...I suppose we should head there for supplies before we go slay the vampire." answered the genin.

Sure enough, there was a dark, spooky forest up ahead.

"We might want to be careful...there might be dangerous creatures in that forest." noted Hinata.

"Well, I already went into a jungle where there were several creatures trying to kill me...one of them ripped off my shirt." answered Naruto.

"You got your shirt ripped off?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah...it's already happened to me twice." said Naruto.

Gajeel rubbed his hand behind his head.

The four of them cautiously proceeded through the forest.

Sure enough, there were several unfriendly creatures inside. Immediately, they were attacked by ghosts.

"Turn back..." warned one of the ghosts.

"It is dangerous..." answered another ghost.

"We know...we're trying to slay a vampire here so that people don't get their blood drunk." answered Sakura.

One of the ghosts slashed her in the face.

"Alright, you asked for it!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Unfortunately, her fists went straight through the ghost.

"Don't try to punch us...it is futile..." warned said ghost.

"Darn it! What's a girl to do?" inquired Sakura.

"Maybe you could try hitting them with your ice magic?" asked Hinata.

Oddly enough, Hinata's Gentle Fist technique was proving to be very useful against the ghosts, since said technique targetted the soul.

Shrugging, Sakura tried doing so, which proved to be effective.

Gajeel's iron dragonslayer magic was proving to be useful as well...apparently, the ghosts didn't like metal too much.

Naruto tried to summon Taurus and Aries, but they were both very frightened.

"Take a deep breath for me, will you?" inquried the genin.

Taurus and Aries nodded, and began to take deep breaths.

"I wonder why this forest suddenly became so scary." said Sakura.

"Maybe there's something tainting it..." answered Hinata.

Suddenly, they began to hear the sound of what appeared to be wolves.

"More wolves? I already recall facing them in my ice mission...then again, something seems more sinister about these ones..." noted the kunoichi.

Sure enough, they were now under attack by some wolves...who happened to have glowing red eyes. Apparently, they were possessed by something.

Taurus and Aries began to panic.

"Don't let them eat us!" exclaimed Taurus.

Aries immediately jumped into Taurus's arms.

"Um, hello there, miss...I haven't seen you before." answered Taurus.

Aries's cheeks turned red.

"Um, hello?" inquired the sheep spirit.

Immediately, Naruto created some copies of himself to attack the wolves...since unfortunately his celestial spirits weren't being helpful at the moment.

"Maybe I should try summoning a spirit that's braver?" inquired Naruto.

Suddenly, one of the wolves bit Aries in the leg.

"Ouch!" bellowed Aries.

This made Taurus angry...though he happened to be somewhat lecherous, he was also somewhat chivalrious, and he did not want a pretty girl to end up in danger.

So, he began fighting back against the wolves...who oddly enough turned to be more bark than bite.

"There we go!" exclaimed Naruto.

Realizing how brave Taurus was being, Aries decided to step in on the action as well.

Immediately, she began to plow through the wolves with her horns.

"It looks like they're beginning to falter..." said Hinata.

"That's a good sign." nodded Naruto.

However, it appeared that their leader was on the eve on his appearance.

Their leader in question...happened to be a werewolf.

"Uh-oh..." thought the kunoichi.

"You want to get through this forest? You'll have to kill me first!" exclaimed the werewolf.

"It appears that he's guarding the way out of the forest so that intruders won't disturb his master..." noted Sakura.

"Your name is..." asked Naruto.

"My name is Lycan...admittedly my parents weren't too creative..." answered Lycan.

"OK..." answered Gajeel.

Immediately, Lycan lunged towards the four.

_Meanwhile..._

Levy was trying to get the interdimensional portal up and running again. She had been saving her magic for the occassion.

Now, it was about time to try again.

"Hopefully I can make it last longer this time..." noted the letter mage.

She didn't want the interdimensional portal to close on anyone else.

On the plus side, her experiments with it were proving to be rather successful.

"At this rate I should be able to make it more permanent..." noted Levy.

That way everyone could go back home and everyone would be happy. Sometimes, she knew what it was like to be homesick.

"I feel bad separating everyone from their homes..." thought Levy.

Then again, Makarov did insist on trying to test out the interdimensional portal. He said that it would be wrong to let it go to waste.

Now that she thought of it, she was rather interested in seeing what was on the other side herself.

The world of ninja seemed like a rather interesting place. Was it like the world of magic? There were a lot of questions that she wanted answers for.

"Hmm..." thought the letter mage.

However, she got the feeling that heading to the world of ninja could be rather dangerous as well. She might not want to go in there alone.

"I suppose I could try bringing my teammates with me...then again, they might not be as interested in exploring the world of ninja as I am." answered Levy.

Shrugging, she decided that it was time to continue her work.

She didn't want to be a slacker.

"Let's see now...if I cast this spell and then cast that spell...hmm..." answered the letter mage.

Suddenly, Happy entered the room.

"What are you doing?" asked the Exceed.

Levy jumped in surprise.

"Happy! You scared me!" exclaimed the Letter Mage.

Happy sweatdropped.

"Sorry about that..." answered the Exceed.

"It's fine...I was just working on making another interdimensional portal so that everyone could get back home..." spoke Levy.

"Hooray!" exclaimed Happy.

"Hopefully I'll be able to make it more permanent so that it doesn't suddenly close like it has before..." answered the letter mage.

"Woohoo!" bellowed the Exceed.

"However, I have to wonder how making a permanent interdimensional portal would effect Fairy Tail and Fiore as a whole..." noted Levy.

"Hmm?" asked Happy curiously.

"Now that I think of it...we seem to be adding a lot of ninja to our guild to replace the ones that we've lost to the interdimensional portal..." acknowledged the leader of Team Shadow Gear.

"At this rate we might have to change our guild's name to Ninja Tail!" exclaimed Happy.

"And you just made a title drop." answered the letter mage.

"A title drop?" inquired the Exceed.

"You just said the title of the story out loud." explained Levy.

"I did? Heh heh." answered the blue cat.

"Yeah...I'm starting to see why the author would want to call it that..." noted the letter mage.

"Yeah!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"Can we stop breaking the fourth wall now? I need to focus..." asked the leader of Team Shadow Gear.

"Huh? Of course." nodded Happy.

Immediately, Levy continued trying to research so that she could make a better interdimensional portal.

"How big can I make an interdimensional portal anyway? I'm not sure if I need to limit myself to one size..." answered the letter mage.

Happy left to go take a catnap.

_Meanwhile..._

"Sheesh...those bandits sure have impressive technology..." noted Lucy.

Did they somehow manage to enter the world of magic?

Then again, she had heard that some ninja had been using puppets to assist them in combat...they were rather elaborately designed.

In fact, according to Juvia and Gray, one such puppeteer had managed to save her life.

"Hooray for ventriloquists...I guess." answered the kunoichi. To be honest, ventriloquist dummies kind of freaked her out. They were kind of...uncanny.

To make matters worse, several bandits had arrived to assist the war machine. Some of them shot arrows, others tried to stab them.

"As if the war machine wasn't powerful enough alone..." thought Lucy.

Thankfully, they managed to take out the bandits quickly.

Unfortunately, the war machine showed no signs of slowing down the assault.

Suddenly, the war machine pulled out a flamethrower and began to shoot out flames at the foursome.

"Prepare to be cooked!" exclaimed the former bandit chief.

"Wah!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Take cover!" warned Gray.

The bandit chief began to laugh...though in the process several of the huts the bandits were using as houses were burned away.

"I might have to help rebuild those huts later..." thought the former bandit chief.

However, his plan to defeat the intruders had a flaw.

Natsu immediately swallowed the flames and began to shoot them at the war machine, setting it on fire.

"Aah! Fire fire fire!" bellowed the former bandit chief.

And since the war machine was made of wood...the fire began to spread quickly.

Thankfully, there was an emergency fire extinguisher inside the war machine, along with an axe.

Using the axe, he pulled out the fire extinguisher and began trying to put out the fire.

Fortunately for him, he succeeded.

"Thank goodness...sheesh...look how messed up the war machine is now..." noted the former bandit chief.

However, the fire extinguisher gave Juvia an idea of what to do next.

Immediately, she attacked the war machine with a waterfall, causing the inside of the machine to be flooded.

"Aah!" exclaimed the bandit chief.

This did the trick, and the war machine was shattered.

Immediately, the bandit chief went to alert Setsuna of the situation.

"Well, looks like a job well done." answered Lucy.

"Yes, it does." nodded Gray.

"I think they're going to send their leader now though...I believe it was that woman we encountered earlier...or rather her clone." spoke the summoner mage.

"I hope that we're ready..." said Natsu.

"Juvia thinks we are. Drip drop, drip drop." answered Juvia.

Immediately, the former bandit chief alerted Setsuna of the situation.

"Can't you do anything right?" inquired Setsuna.

"I tried to stop them, mistress! But they were too strong!" he explained.

"Fine...I'll deal with them myself. Don't make such a big deal out of this." answered the bandit queen.

"Fine..." answered the former bandit chief.

Immediately, Setsuna pulled out her katana.

"Off to slay the intruders I go." said the wind ninja.

"Where did you get to be so strong?" inquired the man.

"Well..." answered Setsuna.

_"Alright, you sissies! I want you all to be the strongest ninjas you can be! If you slack off, you're going to suffer the consequences!" exclaimed the sergeant._

_As it turned out, Setsuna used to study at a ninja military school. Her parents had been rather hard on her._

_"Sir, yes, sir!" bellowed the ninja._

_"Right then...show me what you got!" bellowed the rather nasty ninja._

_Unfortunately, the ninjas did not have much._

_"Are you kidding? C'mon, be a man!" exclaimed the drill sergeant ninja._

_"But I'm a girl..." said Setsuna, raising her hand._

_"Then don't act like a woman! Act like a man!" bellowed the sergeant._

_Sighing, Setsuna decided to give it the best she had._

_As it turned out, she had hidden potential._

_Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind sent her fellow students flying away._

_"Wah!" bellowed one of the students._

_"Hold on to your seat!" exclaimed another student._

_"Magnificient! Apparently, you're stronger than I thought! Maybe I should use you as an example..." answered the sergeant._

_"An example?" asked Setsuna._

_Granted, during her chakra test it was proven that wind was her speciality...but she had no idea she was this talented with it._

_Immediately, the sergeant asked Setsuna to step up in front of the other students._

_"Um...sure..." nodded the wind ninja in training._

_Setsuna did as the sergeant demanded._

_As it turned out, the sergeant was much more amicable towards those that actually were strong._

_"This fine girl is the best student we have ever had! I want you all to be just like her!" exclaimed the sergeant._

_Immediately, his students saluted Setsuna with respect._

_"You know...as much as I dreaded going here...I guess this isn't so bad..." thought the wind ninja._

_She was going to have quite the story to tell her parents when she got home._

"So...you used to be a student at a ninja military school?" inquired the former bandit chief.

"Did you think I spent my time as a youth picking flowers?" asked Setsuna.

"I guess not." answered the chief.

"What is your name, anyway? I don't believe you ever told me before you let me be in charge as the bandit queen..." spoke Setsuna.

"My name? It's Kerai..." answered Kerai.

"I see..." nodded the wind kunoichi.

"Where did you get that katana?" inquired Kerai.

"Well, since I did so well at the ninja military school...my parents gave me this as a gift. Said that I could use it to help me become the best ninja I could be..." explained the wind kunoichi.

Immediately, Setsuna left to go deal with the intruders.

"Good luck out there!" exclaimed the former bandit chief.

_Meanwhile..._

Once more, Hinata set up a ring of fire to help defend her teammates.

"Funny, during our battle, you seemed to prefer fighting offensively..." noted Gajeel.

"Well, that's because you made me angry...I usually don't fight like that nowadays." answered Hinata.

"Oh..." acknowledged the iron dragonslayer.

"Speaking of which, don't beat up Naruto again..." demanded the female fire dragonslayer.

"We actually got a duel over who got to be the next S-Class Mage, actually." said Naruto.

"I know...I was there. I meant don't torture him again...he's not a test dummy." demanded Hinata.

Gajeel nodded. From now on, he wasn't going to be evil. Being evil sucked.

Of course, Sakura wasn't one to fight defensively. After asking Hinata if she could remove her from the fire barrier, she began pummeling the wolves with her fists.

Likewise, Gajeel began doing the same. Apparently, he wanted to go on the offensive as well.

"Do you want to go on the offensive too, Naruto?" inquired Hinata.

"No thanks. I'm good." nodded Naruto.

Unfortunately, it appeared that even some of the trees in this forest were a threat to them.

Immediately, they began to try to claw at their faces.

"Oh my gosh! The trees are attacking us!" exclaimed Naruto.

However, they did not seem to realize that they were up against a fire mage.

Hinata tossed some fireballs at the offending treants, causing them to burn.

"Well, I guess I won't have to worry too much about trees suddenly attacking me...I might as well become a lumberjack." answered the kunoichi.

Then again, she'd rather attack enemies with her fists rather than with an axe...much like Sakura herself.

However, Sakura now had a variety of weapons to go with her bare hands these days.

"I wish I had some silver right about now..." noted the kunoichi as she began to freeze the wolves solid.

"You will never defeat my pack!" exclaimed Lycan.

Immediately, he began to howl and more wolves began to appear.

"Funny, you appear to be the only werewolf in your pack..." questioned Sakura.

"I know...the other werewolves kicked me out because I was a lunatic..." answered Lycan.

"I can see why." nodded the kunoichi.

"Heh heh...lunatic." thought Gajeel.

Curious, Naruto remembered that he could also summon Gamabunta to help him attack his enemies.

Immediately, he pressed his hand on the ground, and the giant toad arrived to help.

"Lucy, is that you?" inquired Gamabunta.

Curious, he then realized that it was actually Naruto.

"Oh. Never mind, then." answered the giant toad.

"Hmm? Did you say Lucy?" asked Naruto. Apparently, Jiraiya was training Lucy in Naruto's absence.

"Yes, I said that." nodded Gamabunta.

"Oh...I guess Lucy's training under pervy sage's wing...interesting..." thought Naruto.

Immediately, Gamabunta began to attack the wolves, crushing them underneath his bulk.

However, Lycan wasn't one to give up, and he sank his teeth into Gamabunta's leg.

"Ouch!" bellowed the giant toad.

"I'm going to eat your legs!" exclaimed Lycan.

However, Gamabunta managed to grab the werewolf by the tongue, and flung him into the sky.

"Aaugh!" screamed the werewolf.

Leaping his way back towards Gamabunta, he began trying to claw him in the face.

"He's persistent..." noted the toad.

"You didn't tell me that you could summon a giant toad..." answered Gajeel.

"I usually save him for emergencies..." explained Naruto.

Immediately, Gamabunta hit Lycan with some water, causing him to smell rather bad.

This did not do favors for Hinata and Gajeel's heightened senses of smell, who began covering their noses.

"Ugh...my nose..." murmured Hinata.

"Agh..." spoke Gajeel.

In retaliation, Lycan began to tear into Gamabunta viciously.

"I might need some help here..." said the giant toad. Lycan may be much smaller than he was, but he was still very ferocious.

"Taurus! Aries!" exclaimed Naruto.

Taurus and Aries began to help the giant toad defeat Lycan, attacking him with an axe and some wool respectively.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed Lycan.

Oddly enough, the wool in question made him feel rather relaxed.

"I thought I you could only summon toads..." questioned Gamabunta.

"Not anymore..." answered Naruto.

"Alright then..." nodded the giant toad, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Unable to defeat the trio, Lycan eventually fainted...shortly afterwards, he transformed into a small puppy.

"Hmm...it appears that whoever cast that spell on him...their magic is wearing off..." noted Hinata.

"You think it was the vampire?" inquired Sakura.

"Most likely." answered the Hyuga clan member.

Shortly afterwards, the forest became much more cheery. It now looked far less scary than before.

"So far we seem to be doing a good job." said Naruto.

"I actually liked the old forest better..." answered Gajeel.

"I guess you can't please everyone." shrugged the genin.

Immediately, they continued making their way towards Scaryvania.

_Meanwhile..._

"Here comes their leader!" exclaimed Lucy.

Immediately, Setsuna approached them.

"Well well well. It looks like you and your friends have launched an all-out assault on our little camp...I guess Konoha couldn't tolerate us any longer." acknowledged the kunoichi.

"No, we could not. You can't just go around stealing our belongings, you know." said the summoner mage.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Natsu.

"No matter...to be honest, I was getting a bit bored being the leader of the bandits...I actually wanted something to do other than go around stealing from others...I'm glad I've finally found something else to do." answered Setsuna.

"Yeah...I guess so." nodded Gray.

"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you shall get." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, she began to blow the four away.

"Aah!" exclaimed Natsu.

"The wind is buffeting my face!" bellowed Gray.

"She sure is strong..." noted Juvia.

"I'm not the leader of the bandits for nothing." answered Setsuna.

She then followed by trying to slash the four in rapid succession. Juvia immediately blocked with her Rashomon gate.

"What's this? It appears we have a Rashomon user here...I'm rather impressed. It's not going to be easy to tear it down...at least not for my loyal bandit crew..." noted Setsuna.

The Rashomon gate then followed by shooting bubbles at the kunoichi, who began cutting through them with her blade.

"I haven't recalled a Rashomon gate being able to do so before...but I guess I have to adapt accordingly." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, she began to slash and cut the Rashomon metal gate, causing it to fall apart. She then panted in exhaustion shortly afterwards. It was hard work.

"That was one strong metal gate...now then, where were we? Ah yes!" exclaimed Setsuna.

Summoning three clones of herself, she began to whip up a hurricane.

Immediately, the four of them found themselves being buffeted with some rather fierce wind indeed.

"What jutsu is most effective against wind, anyway?" inquired Gray.

"I believe that it was fire jutsu...Natsu, you need to do something about this!" exclaimed Lucy.

"You think I can do it? I hope you're right..." answered the fire mage.

"Well, at least he seems a bit more confident than our last mission together..." thought the kunoichi.

Taking a deep breath, Natsu let out a Fire Dragon's Roar, causing the wind clones to disappear and the winds to disappear.

Setsuna was rather shocked at the occurrence. Then again, considering a wind user's corresponding weakness in the chakra elemental table, she wasn't too surprised. It was only a matter of time before one of them was going to try that.

"I might need to be cautious...that drill sergeant did warn me that wind ninja were weak against fire ninja...and that I would be at a disadvantage if I ended up facing one..." noted Setsuna.

She began wondering if pillaging ninja from the Land Of Fire was such a good idea, and if she should have tried pillaging ninja from the Land Of Lightning instead.

But no matter. Even if she found herself outmatched, she could always rely on her apprentice to help her out in a bad situation.

But for the time being, she needed to deal with her biggest threat.

Immediately, she began to slash Natsu repeatedly.

"Agh!" exclaimed Natsu.

He collapsed on the ground, not expecting Setsuna to be so quick.

"Natsu!" bellowed Lucy.

Fortunately, Juvia was there to help. She immediately stuffed Natsu in her body so that he could heal.

However, this caused Setsuna to mark her as her next target.

"Stab the medic first...the drill sergeant said..." answered the wind ninja.

As Juvia knew, if she suffered damage while Natsu was still in her body, he was going to feel it as well.

She immediately began trying to avoid Setsuna's attacks while Natsu began the healing process.

"I'm giving my name a whole new meaning..." thought Juvia, noting how similar her name was to "rejuvenation".

"Should we help her?" asked Gray.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, Gray used his ice magic to freeze Setsuna in place.

"Let me go!" exclaimed Setsuna.

"Only if you agree not to rob the Land Of Fire again..." answered Gray.

"That's a bit tempting at the moment...but there's still a lot of loot that I've left unplundered..." noted the wind ninja.

Immediately, she broke free from Gray's ice magic.

"Darn it! I was hoping that it would hold her a bit longer..." noted the ice mage.

She then followed by shooting wind sickles at Gray.

"Yeowch!" bellowed the ice mage.

At this point, Lucy decided to see if she could summon a magical creature rather than an animal for a change.

She ended up summoning a miniature dragon.

"Perfect! Now I can fight wind with fire!" bellowed the kunoichi.

"Isn't that just dandy?" asked the dragon.

"Why do you sound like Eddie Murphy?" inquired Lucy.

"No reason..." answered the miniature dragon.

Immediately, Lucy used her mini dragon to attack Setsuna with fireballs, which she began to parry with her sword.

"Aren't you a fiesty one..." noted the wind kunoichi.

"I'm not going down without a fight." answered Lucy.

"Of course you're not..." spoke Setsuna.

At that very moment, Gray stabbed her from behind with an ice dagger.

"Agh!" bellowed the wind user.

Juvia and Natsu appeared a few minutes later.

"I'm starting to see why my bandits had trouble disposing of you...but no matter. It's time for me to call for reinforcements!" exclaimed Setsuna.

Setsuna let out a whistle, and several bandits appeared to help their mistress defeat the intruders.

"Calling for reinforcements, huh? I do that all the time..." noted Lucy.

Juvia, Natsu, Gray, and Lucy got ready to fight the bandits once again.

_Meanwhile..._

Hinata, Naruto, Sakura, and Gajeel approached Scaryvania. Once again, the background was becoming dark and spooky.

"Now this is more like it." thought Gajeel.

"At least the forest is still cheerful." noted Hinata.

Suddenly, several villagers began to attack them.

"We're under attack!" bellowed one of the villagers.

Immediately, the angry mob began to throw pebbles at them, as well as lunge at them with their pitchforks.

"Ouch! Quit it!" demanded Sakura.

"Seems they're not too happy to see us..." answered Hinata.

"You're with the vampires, aren't you?!" exclaimed one of the villagers.

"What? We're not with the vampires!" bellowed Naruto.

Curious, the villagers suddenly halted their fire.

However, one of them pointed out something suspicious.

"Wait...if you're not with the vampires...what are you doing hanging out with one of them?" inquired one of the villagers.

Immediately, said villager pointed to Hinata, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"Huh? Hinata? She's not a vampire..." answered Naruto.

Curious, Hinata recalled that she happened to be in a family of aristocrats...and that she had drunk some dragon blood not too long ago.

Also, her eyes happened to be rather pale.

"Is is true? Am I really a vampire?" inquired Hinata.

Curious, she looked at herself in the mirror and discovered that she had a reflection.

"Oh...I guess not. Heh heh." answered the kunoichi.

"Put your weapons away. She's not a vampire, she is our friend." explained Sakura.

The villagers let out a sigh of relief.

Immediately, they escorted them to their leader...whose name happened to be Samson.

"Greetings! I take it you accepted our request to slay a vampire?" inquired Samson.

"Yes, we did." nodded Sakura.

"I'm looking forward to it." spoke Gajeel.

"Of course you are." answered the medical kunoichi.

"Good...his name is Dracferatu. He's been attacking us and drinking our blood...and turning us into his loyal followers..." spoke the village chief.

"That's terrible." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, Samson handed the four an instruction book on how to deal with vampires.

"Interesting..." answered Hinata.

She decided to hold onto the book for safekeeping.

"I take he lives in that dark, scary castle out in the distance?" inquired Sakura.

"As a matter of fact, yes he does. Be careful! He has a horde of evil minions to do his bidding!" warned Samson.

"Right, of course. I'll stab him in the heart with a stake and watch him turn into dust! Or maybe I'll expose him to sunlight and watch the sun do the rest..." nodded Gajeel.

"I'm afraid sunlight doesn't reduce him to ash...it just makes him sparkle." answered Samson.

"Oh...I guess I'll just stab him in the heart with a stake then." spoke the iron dragonslayer.

"Good luck out there!" exclaimed the village chief.

Curious, Naruto started to wonder if he was being deceived again. Samson seemed a bit more trustworthy than Ebemener Scourge was...but he didn't want to fall for the same trick twice.

"Would you mind if we took a look at your reflection first? Just wondering...last time we went on a mission like this we ended up running into a rather corrupt mayor...he almost made us kill Santa!" asked the genin.

"Sure. Wait, kill Santa? Sheesh." questioned Samson.

Sure enough, he had a reflection.

"Well, he seems trustworthy enough. Let's get going!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I'm with you there." nodded Hinata.

Immediately, the four headed towards Dracferatu's Castle.

"They might be our only hope..." thought Samson.

_Meanwhile..._

Konohamaru once again walked his way to school. This time, he had brought some ryo to protect himself from the bullies.

"Let's see now...this is about five hundred ryo...this should be enough to hold them off for now..." said the genin.

Then again, their prices just might be absurd. They seemed rather...greedy.

At that very moment, The Sorority approached him again.

"Did you bring the money this time?" asked Momoo.

"Yes, I did." nodded Konohamaru.

"Good! Hand it over!" exclaimed the leader of The Sorority.

Immediately, Konohamaru handed the thugs the ryo he had in his pocket.

"So, are you not going to beat me up?" inquired the genin.

"No. We are not." answered Momoo.

Konohamaru let out a sigh of relief.

"We're just going to wedgie you up that flagpole over there." explained the leader of the bullies.

"What?!" bellowed the apprentice. He thought that he was going to be safe from the bullies now. Why were they still bullying him?

Immediately, the bullies picked up Konohamaru by the underwear and hung him up the flagpole.

They then left him be so that he would be late to school.

"Bye!" taunted Momoo as he headed back home. Apparently, he wasn't interested in visiting his teacher himself today.

"This is a Morton's Fork, isn't it?" thought Konohamaru. Regardless of whether he paid the bullies ryo or not, he was still going to get bullied...though admittedly the bullying wasn't going to quite as extreme if he paid the bullies not to do so.

Apparently, it didn't matter much to the bullies whether he provided them with ryo or not. They were going to bully him regardless. What exactly was their problem? Did they all suffer from a bad childhood in the past?

Considering that he had lost his grandfather because of a deranged maniac that liked to dance around in other people's skin, he supposed that he could relate to them. He began to wonder how he was doing inside the Grim Reaper's stomach.

He was going to be stuck in there forever.

He had to admit...though he enjoyed training with his jonin teacher...he hated having to walk his way towards him every single time. For some strange reason, that was when Momoo and his gang always struck.

He also got the feeling that he wasn't their first victim...and that they were looking for another genin to bully as he spoke.

"Maybe I should try not walking alone for a change..." noted the boy. Maybe that way the bullies would be more hard-pressed to attack him. Then again, Momoo never seemed to try to bully him alone, either. Both times he had brought his friends with him.

"Well, I suppose it's better for nothing." said Konohamaru as he began to free himself from the flagpole.

Immediately, he landed on the ground and helped himself to his feet.

He then tucked his underpants back in.

"Here's hoping that I'm not late for school...my jonin teacher won't be happy with me if I am..." answered Konohamaru.

Hopefully things were going to change one day. But just who was going to be his savior?

"Hopefully someone big and strong..." he thought.

Maybe he should try telling his jonin teacher about the bullies? She might be able to give him a hand.

Then again, she always seemed to be rather busy, since he wasn't the only student that she was training at the moment.

She personally reminded him a bit of Kurenai, who as he knew happened to be his uncle's girlfriend.

Then again, unlike her, she wasn't a genjutsu specialist. She was in fact a ninjutsu specialist. She in fact had mastered three nature transformations, which he found to be impressive.

Then again, one of those nature transformations was one that she specialized in...which in this case was fire, much like his uncle.

Maybe he could try mastering more than one nature transformation. That would be something that he could show off to his friends, now wouldn't it?

These thoughts surrounded his head as he headed towards his jonin teacher.

_Who is Konohamaru's savior going to be? You'll find out in due time...but in the meantime, let's focus on our main characters, shall we? He's going to receive some time in the spotlight sooner or later...but for now, I hope you enjoy watching Naruto and Lucy (along with their friends) go on another mission._

_In the next chapter, we're going to be introduced to Setsuna's apprentice...as well as Dracferatu...see how I named him? Heh heh._


	26. Chapter 26: Naruto The Vampireslayer

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Setsuna is going to summon her apprentice to help her defeat Lucy and her friends...also, Dracferatu is going to start turning Naruto and his friends into vampires..._

_Isn't that just dandy?_

_Oh...and can you guess where I got the name of Setsuna's apprentice from? Heh heh._

**Chapter 26: Naruto The Vampireslayer**

Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Juvia battled the bandits, hitting them as hard as they could.

"Why do they have to be strong?" inquired one of the bandits.

"I'm starting to wonder if being a bandit is worth it..." noted another one of the bandits.

"Yes...I know..." nodded the first bandit.

"Get back to work!" demanded Setsuna.

"Yes, mistress!" exclaimed the second bandit.

Immediately, the bandits continued their assault, stabbing Gray in the leg.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Gray.

This made Juvia very mad, and the water inside of her began to boil.

In retaliation, she scalded the offending bandit.

"Gah!" exclaimed the bandit.

Thankfully, Gray wasn't terribly injured by the attack, though he did bleed a bit.

"Can I kiss it to make it better?" inquired Juvia.

Gray sweatdropped.

"I think I'll be fine...thanks for asking." answered the ice mage.

"OK..." answered Juvia.

Realizing that her bandits were not a match for the intruders, Setsuna decided that it was time for her to send out someone stronger.

"Who should I send...I know! It's time for my apprentice!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Your apprentice?" asked Lucy.

"Yes...I wanted someone to look after the bandits while I was gone...so I decided to recruit one. Say hello to Chihiro!" bellowed Setsuna.

In a puff of smoke, Setsuna's apprentice appeared. Immediately, Lucy noticed how attractive the ninja looked.

"Oh my gosh! He is so hot!" exclaimed Lucy.

Lucy was about to add the apprentice to her list of perfect boyfriends...

...until Chihiro pointed out something important.

"He?! I'm a girl!" bellowed Chihiro.

Lucy's face turned white with shock.

"Wha-what!?" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Natsu immediately fell on the floor.

"Oh boy..." murmured Gray.

Juvia's eyes widened.

"But...you look just like a boy!" exclaimed Lucy.

Sure enough, Chihiro looked like just like a dude, and had short brown hair. She was dressed in a black kimono...unless her mistress who had a white kimono to go with her white hair.

"Hopefully you'll remember that as I zap you all with lightning bolts..." answered Chihiro.

Immediately, she used lightning bolts to attack the four, who frantically began to avoid them.

_Meanwhile in the ninja afterlife..._

Haku let out a sigh.

"What's the matter?" inquired Zabuza.

"I think that someone is ripping off our style..." answered the ninja.

"Are they now?" asked the water ninja.

"Yeah..." nodded the ice ninja.

"That's too bad..." answered Zabuza.

"Who could be doing this to us?" asked Haku.

"It's probably not their fault...I don't think they've even met us..." answered the water ninja.

"True...I don't think we're even the same gender..." noted the ice ninja.

"So...one of them looks like a boy but is actually a girl?" questioned Zabuza.

"Yes...pretty much." nodded Haku.

Zabuza shrugged. He always wondered if he had a double somewhere.

Apparently, that was the case.

"I wonder if they're going to get sued for copyright infringement..." answered the water ninja.

"Perhaps. I hope not though...I'm starting to feel sorry for them. It must feel bad not to be original." nodded the ice ninja.

"True...then again, I also get the feeling that they have much different powers than we do...and have a different occupation." answered Zabuza.

"I guess we won't have to sue them for copyright infringement then." noted Haku, letting out a sigh of relief.

"I didn't really want to bother anyway..." noted the demon of the mist.

_We now return to the land of the living._

"So, your apprentice is a lightning specialist?" asked Lucy.

"Oh...she's more than that." answered Setsuna.

"Is she now?" inquired the kunoichi.

Suddenly, Chihiro shot several beams of energy at the foursome.

"Yikes!" bellowed Natsu.

"Look out!" exclaimed Gray.

"Oh boy..." murmured Juvia.

"You see, she happens to be able to combine both wind and lightning jutsus in unison...in other words...she has access to Storm Release." answered Setsuna.

"Wow! That's really impressive!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Yes, I know...she has a pretty nifty kekkei genkai. I'm glad that I managed to find her when I did." noted the kunoichi.

"How did you find her, anyway?" inquired Gray.

"It's a long story..." spoke Setsuna.

"Would you mind pausing the battle so that you can tell us that?" asked Natsu.

"Should we?" inquired Chihiro.

Setsuna shrugged.

"Sure, why not." answered the wind ninja.

_"Give us what you have in your pockets!" exclaimed a bandit._

_As it turned out, Chihiro had been surrounded by several bandits, who wanted to rob her due to the fact that she was well-off._

_"Never!" bellowed the storm ninja._

_"Alright then...we could have done this the easy way...but I guess we're going to do this the hard way!" exclaimed the bandit._

_Suddenly, Chihiro began to shoot energy beams from her hands to ward off the bandits._

_"Aah!" bellowed one of the bandits._

_"Run away!" exclaimed another bandit._

_At that very moment, Setsuna approached them. She had in fact been watching from a distance._

_"What seems to be the problem?" inquired the kunoichi._

_"It's this boy! We tried to rob him but he shot at us with energy beams! We could have died!" screamed one of the bandits._

_"Really? Alright then...I'll take him as an apprentice. He could be useful to me..." explained Setsuna._

_"I'm a girl!" bellowed Chihiro._

_"Correction...I'll take her as an apprentice." answered the kunoichi as she approached Chihiro._

_"She was a girl?" asked one of the bandits curiously._

_"I guess you learn something new everyday." spoke another bandit._

_"Why should I help you?" asked the kunoichi._

_"Well, I'll give you a profit of the cut if you help me steal things..." answered Setsuna._

_"Can we rob my parents? They live in that mansion over there..." inquired Chihiro._

_"Your parents? How come?" asked the wind ninja._

_"They haven't been treating me nice...they arranged me to be married to a pig!" exclaimed the storm ninja._

_"A pig?" asked the wind ninja._

_"Well, he looked like a pig. What were my parents thinking?! He is a total jerk! He doesn't love me, he just wants my money!" answered Chihiro._

_"I see..." nodded Setsuna._

_"Maybe we should try robbing him instead..." suggested the masculine-looking girl._

_"Alright then...let's go make some pit stops, shall we?" inquired the kunoichi._

_"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" exclaimed Chihiro, saluting Setsuna with respect._

"Suffice to say, we've gotten rather close since we've first met..." noted Setsuna.

"I thought you said that it was a long story..." answered Lucy.

"Well, maybe it was shorter than I remembered it." spoke the wind kunoichi.

"Well, it was still rather entertaining." nodded Natsu.

"Glad you liked it..." nodded Chihiro, pulling out a picture of her and Setsuna.

"Aww..." said Gray.

Juvia began to smile.

"Now can we get back to fighting? I'm itching for action..." said the kunoichi.

"Sure...I know how much you like combat..." answered Setsuna.

Immediately, Chihiro summoned a thundercloud to attack the foursome.

"Hope you brought an umbrella." spoke the kunoichi.

Juvia pulled out an umbrella.

Chihiro sweatdropped.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, this is the castle the vampire lives on, right?" inquired Naruto.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Sakura.

"It sure is spooky..." noted Hinata.

"I like it." answered Gajeel.

Feeling rather nervous, the four of them entered the castle.

Immediately, the door shut behind them.

"Gosh." answered the kunoichi.

"Well, I guess there's no turning back now...we need to confront the vampire..." noted Naruto.

"But where is the vampire? This place is huge..." noted Sakura.

Curious, Hinata used her Byakugan to help search for the vampire.

However, even with said Byakugan, she couldn't find the vampire anywhere.

In fact, the only thing she found suspicious was a lone bat sleeping right outside the castle. Grnated, he was rather large for a bat, but other than that there wasn't anything suspicious about him.

"Maybe he's not hiding anywhere?" inquired the kunoichi.

Curious, Gajeel used his sense of smell to help search for the vampire.

However, he could not find Dracferatu either.

"I guess he really isn't home..." answered the iron dragonslayer.

Shrugging, the foursome decided to explore the castle. They had to admit, it was rather interesting...even if it wasn't well-lit.

Sure enough, the castle happened to have several different paintings. Oddly enough, none of them actually featured vampires.

Maybe Dracferatu wasn't always a vampire?

"Nice place he has here...it actually reminds me a bit like home." answered the kunoichi.

"Look at all the decorations..." noted Naruto.

"I guess when vampires aren't drinking blood of the innocent...they're living in fancy castles." acknowledged Sakura.

"Yeah, I guess." nodded Gajeel.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck the castle.

"Yikes! That was loud!" exclaimed Naruto.

Shortly afterwards, they noticed that Gajeel had gone missing.

"Gajeel? Where are you?" inquired Sakura.

"Where did he go?" asked Hinata.

"This isn't good." answered Naruto.

"We need to look for him!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, she used her Byakugan to search for Gajeel.

However, she could not find him anywhere.

"This isn't good." answered the kunoichi.

"You can't find him?!" exclaimed Sakura.

"No, I cannot." nodded Hinata.

"Oh man..." answered Naruto.

"We better go look for him then." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, they began to search for Gajeel.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" thought Hinata.

Something told her that the vampire might be closer than they thought.

Curious, she began to wonder if she should read the instruction book that Samson had given her.

Chances were that it was full of useful information that she could use against Dracferatu.

Of course, it wasn't going to be very useful if she couldn't find the vampire.

Was he really not at home...or he was just hiding?

"Something's not right here..." thought Hinata as the trio continued to explore the castle.

_Meanwhile..._

"Bullseye!" exclaimed Bisca.

"Congratulations, honey!" bellowed Alzack.

"I did it!" cheered the cowgirl.

"Excuse me, have you seen Naruto? I wanted to return the book he gave me...I managed to finish it..." explained Erza.

"I believe he went on a mission to slay a vampire..." explained Alzack.

"A vampire?" inquired the knight.

"Yes, I know. Isn't he brave?" asked Bisca.

"That's nice..." nodded Erza.

"Hopefully he'll successfully be able to slay a vampire...that way he can be a vampire slayer!" exclaimed Alzack.

"Wouldn't that be nice...then again, we already have a devil slayer and a dragon slayer in our guild..." noted the kunoichi.

"It's true...we do..." nodded Bisca.

"I just hope that he can take care of himself." acknowledged Erza.

"I'm sure he'll be fine!" exclaimed Alzack.

"Well, that's rather reassuring...to be honest, I don't remember the last time I ever went on a mission to slay a vampire..." answered the knight.

"Well, they're not as common as some people think they are..." noted Bisca.

"That's true." nodded Erza. Personally, it was probably for the best. If an army of bloodthirsty vampires decided to attack Fairy Tail, they might as well consider themselves exsanguinated.

"They always want to suck our blood..." thought the knight.

Shrugging, Erza decided that maybe Alzack and Bisca were right. There was only one vampire after all.

However, she remembered something important.

"Can't a vampire create followers by biting them in the neck?" inquired Erza.

Curious, she wondered if Naruto was aware of that when he went on that mission along with his teammates.

"Hmm..." thought the knight.

She began to wonder if she should to the library and look up information about vampires. She just might be able to slay some of them.

"Off to the library I go." she said.

Sure enough, the library wasn't too far from where she was previously.

"Here we are!" exclaimed Erza as she began to read from the book.

According the book, vampires could live for thousands of years.

"Aren't they long-lasting..." noted the kunoichi.

Personally, she was starting to wonder if there was any kind of creature other than vampires that could live that long. Not even werewolves had such a lifespan.

Then again, she had heard of demons that had lived for thousands of years as well. Apparently, they could live that long if they were powerful enough.

"Let's keep reading..." thought the knight.

_Meanwhile..._

Curious, Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura noticed that there was a staircase leading directly to the basement of the castle.

"I wonder what we're going to find there..." answered the genin.

As he discovered, there was a dungeon in the basement of the castle.

"Hmm...a dungeon..." thought Naruto.

"I'm scared..." murmured Hinata.

"Me too..." nodded Sakura.

Disturbingly, the dungeon happened to be filled with skeletons. Perhaps these were previous victims of Dracferatu.

Thankfully, he hadn't appeared to have killed too many people, though he typically nourished himself on human blood. Perhaps he had standards?

"That's a relief..." thought Naruto.

Nonetheless, it was rather disturbing.

Suddenly, another lightning bolt hit the castle.

"Not again!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Sheesh...those lightning bolts are loud." answered Naruto.

This time, they noticed that Sakura had gone missing.

"Um...Hinata...where did Sakura go?" inquired the genin.

"Has she gone missing too?" asked Hinata.

"It looks that way..." answered Naruto.

"This is really bad, Naruto. Now I'm really starting to get worried." spoke the kunoichi.

"You're right, Hinata! This is terrible...I can't believe it..." nodded the genin.

"We might have to call off the mission..." answered Hinata.

Suddenly, Naruto noticed that there was another staircase. There appeared to be footprints on it.

"Um, Hinata...I think I might know where Sakura is..." answered the genin.

"What?" asked the kunoichi curiously.

Nervously, Naruto pointed to the staircase.

"This isn't good, Naruto...I think she's been kidnapped!" exclaimed Hinata.

"You're right! We have to save her!" bellowed Naruto.

"We might need to save Gajeel as well while we're at it...he went missing before Sakura did." noted the kunoichi.

"Yes, of course!" nodded the genin.

Immediately, the duo climbed down the staircase to begin searching for their missing friends.

Instead, all they found was a coffin...that happened to be open.

"Hmm? Is this where Dracferatu sleeps?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Apparently." nodded Hinata.

Naruto began to feel more nervous than ever.

"OK...I think we've done enough. I think we should call off the mission now...there's no vampire and there's no sign of our friends..." answered the genin.

"You're right...I guess we should call off the mission." nodded Hinata.

Suddenly, Naruto let out a scream.

"Huh?" asked Hinata.

Curious, she turned around, and noticed that Naruto was being dragged away by a shadowy figure.

"Aah! Hinata!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Naruto!" bellowed Hinata.

At this point, she was struggling not to panic. All of her friends had disappeared now, and it looked as if they had been abducted by Dracferatu.

What was she going to do? It looks like she was stuck playing the final girl role of this horror movie.

Immediately, she decided that she needed to flee and call for reinforcements.

"I'm getting out of here!" bellowed Hinata.

However, no sooner did she reach the entrance did her friends stop her.

Hinata gasped in shock. Her friends had all turned into vampires!

"Join us Hinata...together we can suck some blood..." demanded Vampire Gajeel.

"The blood of the villagers tastes like honey...or cherry soda...or milkshakes...yeah, it kind of depends on the person...but generally it tastes pretty good." explained Vampire Sakura.

"C'mon, Hinata! Don't you want to join us? We're your friends!" exclaimed Vampire Naruto.

"Do I have a choice?" asked Hinata.

"Not really, no." answered the vampirized Naruto.

Immediately, he went up to Hinata and bit her in the neck.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

She promptly let out a sigh. Off to the world of vampires she went.

"Here I go..." said Hinata.

However, much to her surprise, she did not turn into a vampire at all. What was going on? Did this have to do with the lack of darkness in her body?

Shrugging, she decided that she needed to flee from the vampires before they drank her blood.

"Get her!" demanded the vampire version of Naruto.

_Meanwhile..._

The thundercloud rained no less than a dozen bolts on top of Lucy's squad, causing electrocution.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed Lucy. That was one nasty jutsu.

And to make matters worse, Chihiro still had plenty of chakra left, meaning that the thundercloud was going to remain for a while.

"We need to get rid of that thundercloud..." noted Gray.

"How are we going to do that?" suggested Juvia.

Curious, Natsu began to toss fireballs at the thundercloud to see if it would vanish.

Sure enough, the thundercloud began to shrink.

"Maybe we need to keep attacking it so that it will disappear?" questioned Lucy.

"Sounds like a plan." nodded Gray.

However, Chihiro was still attacking the four with her energy blasts. One of them hit Gray straight in the abdomen.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed Gray.

Once again, Juvia stuffed Gray inside her body so that she could heal.

Fortunately, Natsu successfully managed to destroy the thundercloud.

Unfortunately, it exploded into several thunderbolts that were sent flying towards the foursome.

Once again, they were forced to avoid the attacks.

However, Setsuna was getting ready to summon another tornado.

"I'll send you all back towards Konoha!" exclaimed Setsuna.

"But it feels like we just got here..." complained Lucy.

"Too bad then." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, she attacked the four with the twister, juggling them all in the sky and giving them some cuts. Unfortunately, the twister was too fast for them to avoid. Setsuna was one fast ninja.

"Ugh..." murmured Lucy.

**"Would you look at that. You're getting pulverized out there." **said Kurama.

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm rather impressed you're still standing after such an assault...but no matter. I'll be sure to end this quickly." said Setsuna.

And to make matters worse, Natsu's motion sickness had flared up again. He was feeling very sick to his stomach.

"Agh..." murmured the fire mage. Why did Setsuna have to trap him inside a twister? This was worse than the time he had gone on a merry-go-round without knowing what he was getting himself into.

He had to admit, it was a shame that he could not ride rollercoasters due to the fact that he had motion sickness. He personally wondered what one was like.

"Are you going to be OK, Natsu?" asked Lucy.

"You might have to go on without me..." answered Natsu, whose face had turned green.

Once again, Juvia stuffed Natsu inside his body so that he could recover from such an unpleasant experience.

However, he was going to need some time to recover. Motion sickness really knocked the breath out of him.

"This is bad..." thought Gray.

"You betcha! Are you ready to say your goodbyes?" exclaimed Chihiro.

Immediately, she began to charge up for a powerful blast.

"Yes! That's it! Show them what you've got!" bellowed Setsuna.

"Is this the end?" inquired Lucy.

"I hope not..." answered Gray.

Juvia began to hug Gray tightly.

"Aww...how sweet...she's going to hug me before we both get vaporized..." thought the ice mage.

_Meanwhile..._

Realizing that she didn't have much time, Hinata barricaded herself and began to read the book of how to slay vampires.

"I probably should have read this earlier..." noted Hinata.

According to the book, in the event that her friends ended up turning into vampires, she should try purifying them to transform them back into normal.

"I guess it's up to my Gentle Fist technique now..." answered the kunoichi.

Also, she should try putting garlic necklaces on her friend's necks so that they didn't get bitten again.

Fortunately, the vampire slaying book came with a bag filled with vampire slaying supplies.

"Well, speak of the devil!" exclaimed Hinata.

"I love the devil!" exclaimed Vampire Gajeel.

Hinata sweatdroped.

"Stand back, guys! I'll take care of this!" bellowed Vampire Naruto.

"Sure." nodded Vampire Sakura.

"We'll be waiting for you out in the hallway." answered Vampire Gajeel.

Immediately, Vampire Naruto began to bust down Hinata's barricade.

"I guess I'm going to have to confront him..." spoke the kunoichi.

Sure enough, due to the super strength that came with being a vampire, Naruto was able to bust down the barricade somewhat easily.

"I'm coming for you, Hinata!" exclaimed Vampire Naruto.

Immediately, he lunged towards Hinata. Again, due to the fact that he was now a vampire, he was now very fast.

However, Hinata retaliated by using her Gentle Fist to punch Naruto, which took out one of his fangs.

"Ouch! Darn it! I can't be a vampire without my fangs! Stop!" demanded Vampire Naruto.

"Sorry, no. I need to cure you." answered Hinata.

"Try to cure me? Good luck with that! You can't cure vampirism!" exclaimed the vampire boy.

"Actually, according the book, I can...so long as you didn't voluntarily surrender yourself to Dracferatu...which I don't think you did." answered the kunoichi.

"No matter! You'll never cure me!" bellowed the vampirized genin.

"I already managed to cure Santa...he had fallen victim to a rather nasty spell, too..." explained Hinata.

Oddly enough, Naruto seemed to remember that.

Raising an eyebrow, Hinata wondered if Naruto remembered his past life, and wondered if he could break free from Dracferatu's control if he tried to remember it as well.

"Don't you remember, Naruto? We've been friends for years! Don't tell me you're going to suck out my blood after this..." asked Hinata.

"You make a good point..." answered the genin.

Curious, Hinata noticed that Naruto's skin was going to become less pale.

Apparently, he was starting to fight Dracferatu's control over him.

Shrugging, Hinata took the opportunity to use her Gentle Fist to punch him and knock him down.

Sure enough, his vampirism was starting to wear off.

"Thank goodness..." said the kunoichi.

Naruto got up shortly afterwards.

"What happened? I don't quite remember..." answered the boy.

"I'm afraid you got turned into a vampire by Dracferatu..." spoke Hinata.

"Huh? Oh, that's right...I remember him grabbing onto me and biting my neck..." answered Naruto.

"We better make sure that doesn't happen again...thankfully, I appear to be immune to vampirism..." spoke Hinata.

"You're immune?" asked Naruto.

"Apparently it has something to do with the lack of darkness inside my body for Dracferatu to work with...well, that and I already have some vampire traits...I've already drunk some dragon blood." noted the kunoichi.

"That's true." nodded the genin.

Immediately, Hinata handed Naruto a garlic necklace so that Dracferatu wouldn't try biting him in the heck again.

"Thank goodness...being bitten in the neck by a vampire really hurts." noted Naruto.

"I bet it does...though personally it wasn't so bad for me." answered Hinata.

"Well yeah...that's because you didn't become a vampire." spoke the genin.

"True..." nodded the kunoichi.

"I think we need to save our friends...they've both transformed into vampires as well..." answered Naruto.

"It's us to the rescue then!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, the duo went to search for their friends.

_Meanwhile..._

Dracferatu was laughing with delight. Turning his guests into vampires was almost too easy, thanks to his ability to shapeshift into a bat and his ability to blend in with the shadows.

Though he couldn't look in the mirror to check himself out, Dracferatu looked much like a typical vampire. He had black hair, a black cloak, dressed mainly in red, had a bowtie, and had pale skin.

He had to admit, it always felt rather satisfying to drink blood.

"Right...soon I'll be able to turn everyone in Scaryvania into my vampire brethen...I look forward to vampirizing everyone there. Ahhahaha." answered the vampire.

Suddenly, he began to smell garlic.

"Ugh! That horrible smell!" bellowed Dracferatu.

Much like other vampires, he hated that terrible smell.

"I might need to get a nosepeg." he thought.

Curious, he wondered where he had put them.

"They've got to be around here somewhere..." noted Dracferatu.

Sure enough, he had left them on the table next to his chair.

"Ah! Here they are! Ahhahaha." answered the vampire.

Immediately, he put on the nosepeg so that he wouldn't have to tolerate the horrible smell.

"There...but how did garlic end up in my castle? I thought I had thrown it all in the trash!" exclaimed the vampire.

Suddenly, a vampire bat flew into the office.

"Can I help you?" asked Dracferatu.

"Master! We've got bad news! There are vampireslayers here! They're going to kill you!" exclaimed the vampire bat.

"What? I thought I had just dealt with them...I turned them into my vampire slaves so that they could do my bidding. Ahhahaha." answered the vampire.

"Well, there's two of them out there!" exclaimed the vampire bat.

Dracferatu sighed. Apparently, he was going to have to do a better job than simply bite them in the neck.

"Alright then...you have my permission to deal with these unwanted guests." answered the vampire.

Immediately, several vampire bats appeared to assist his vampire bat messenger.

"Go out there and suck the blood out of them!" exclaimed Dracferatu.

"Yes, of course!" nodded the vampire bat messenger.

They promptly used echolocation to search for the intruders. They found them shortly.

The vampire bats immediately flew away.

"Right then...in the meantime, I'll be drinking some blood." answered Dracferatu.

Immediately, he pulled out a goblet and began to guzzle its delicious contents.

_Meanwhile..._

"I'm starting to feel worried about Hinata..." answered Shino.

"How come?" asked Kiba.

"I can't help but shake the feeling that she's in danger somewhere..." spoke the bug user.

"Oh..." nodded the dog user.

Akamaru began to howl.

"You think she's going to be OK?" asked Kiba.

"I hope." answered Shino.

"What kind of peril do you think she's in?" inquired the dog user.

"I believe she's up against something evil...and ancient..." explained the bug user.

"Oh...that doesn't sound good." answered Kiba.

"Something tells me that she might want to grab her crucifix..." spoke Shino.

"A crucifix?" asked the Inuzaka clan member.

"Arf?" inquired Akamaru curiously.

"That always seems to work against evil creatures. Then again, I get the feeling that her friends are in danger too." noted the Aburame clan member.

"Her friends?" asked Kiba.

"Well, I don't think she would go up against something that was evil and ancient alone..." noted Shino.

"Of course not...how ancient are we talking here?" answered the dog user.

"Probably something that's lived for at least a thousand years...maybe a vampire? My intuition isn't perfect." noted the bug user.

"I'm starting to feel scared..." spoke Kiba.

"Yes...I'm starting to feel scared too..." answered Shino.

Immediately, sweat began dropping down the bug user's face.

"I'm sure that Hinata will be fine! She can do anything!" exclaimed Kiba.

"I suppose you're right...you'd be surprised what bad situations she's bailed us out of..." noted the bug user.

Kiba began to flashback to the day Hinata helped him.

_"I need someone to look after my dog and there's no room in the kennel! What am I going to do!" exclaimed Kiba._

_"Arf..." murmured Akamaru._

_At that very moment, Hinata paid Kiba a visit._

_"Hi there, Kiba! What's the matter?" inquired Hinata._

_"It's my dog!" bellowed Kiba._

_"Hmm? Is he sick?" asked the kunoichi._

_"No...I just don't have anyone to look after him..." answered the dog user._

_"Oh...don't worry! I'll take care of it! I have spare time!" nodded Hinata._

_"Really? Thanks! You're a lifesaver!" exclaimed Kiba._

_Akamaru howled in triumph._

_"You're welcome." answered Hinata._

_Immediately, Kiba left so that he could go on a vacation._

Shino began to flashback as well.

_Shino let out a sigh. He simply could not find his wallet anywhere._

_He had tried sending his bugs out to look for it, but unfortunately they did not know what a wallet was._

_Shino sighed._

_"What am I going to do? I need that to go shopping..." noted the bug user._

_At that very moment, Hinata paid Shino a visit._

_"What's the matter?" asked the kunoichi._

_"I lost my wallet...and my bugs can't help me find it because they don't know what a wallet is." explained Shino._

_"Alright then! I'll help you look for it!" exclaimed the kunoichi._

_Immediately, she used her Byakugan to help her search for Shino's wallet._

_As it turned out...it was lying on the table._

_"Um, Shino...you left it on the table." explained Hinata._

_Shino sweatdropped._

_"I need to take better care of my belongings." noted the bug user._

_"Yeah..." nodded the kunoichi._

"And to think that she joined Team 8 thinking that she would be useless to us..." answered Kiba.

"I know...I'm really starting to miss her." noted Shino.

"I hope that we'll be able to see her again one day..." spoke the dog user.

"Me too..." nodded the bug user.

_Meanwhile..._

"Do you hear something?" inquired Naruto.

"It sounds like screeching..." answered Hinata.

Immediately, the duo were attacked by vampire bats.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed the genin.

In retaliation, Naruto summoned Taurus and Aries to aid him...

...however, much to his surprise, he found them to be making out.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something here?" inquired the genin.

Taurus and Aries nodded.

"Well, it's good to see that you two met your matches..." answered Naruto.

"Thank you." nodded Aries.

He promptly dismissed the duo.

"I guess it's time for me to use another spirit..." said Naruto.

This time, he decided to summon Scorpius, who attacked the vampire bats with a sandstorm.

"Thanks for your help..." spoke the genin.

"No problem!" answered the scorpion.

Oddly enough, according to one reviewer, he had actually been using keys that Lucy had obtained after the Phantom Lord arc.

"How did I do that?" inquired Naruto.

Hinata shrugged.

"How very odd." noted the genin.

However, the vampire bats showed no sign of slowing down the assault.

"Keep attacking!" ordered Naruto.

"I might need some help here...please?" answered Scorpio.

Unfortunately, the vampire bats were drinking his blood, causing him to feel very woozy.

"How am I going to help you..." murmured Naruto. He didn't want his celestial spirits to get killed...though he had heard that they were all immortal and would only die if he kept them outside the spirit world for too long.

"Maybe you should try summoning an archer? He might be able to shoot down the vampire bats..." spoke Hinata.

Fortunately for her, she was able to keep the bats away by setting herself on fire.

However, Naruto was forced to keep his distance away from her as a result so that he didn't get barbecued.

Immediately, he tried summoning Sagittarius. Unsurprisingly, his summoner key had an arrow on it.

He saluted Naruto with respect.

"Are you going to question me not being your old mistress?" asked Naruto.

"I've had lots of masters and mistresses in the past, so I'm not complaining." answered the archer.

"OK...I didn't mean to replace her, that's all..." answered the genin.

Immediately, Sagittarius began to shoot at the vampire bats. This proved to be surprisingly effective.

Scorpio let out a sigh of relief.

The remaining vampire bats flew away.

"You think Dracferatu sent them to attack us?" asked Hinata.

"Most likely...I don't ever recall bats swarming me like this..." answered Naruto.

"Well, it's already happened to my teammate Shino a few times..." noted the kunoichi.

"Oh, right...he has bugs living inside him..." spoke the genin.

Suddenly, they noticed that Sakura and Gajeel were nearby. They appeared to be making out with each other.

"You are such a bad boy..." giggled Sakura.

"And you are such a bad girl..." answered Gajeel.

"OK..." murmured Naruto, a drop of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"We better get ready to fight, Naruto." said Hinata.

"Yes, of course!" nodded the genin.

Immediately, Naruto and Hinata prepared to fight their friends.

_Meanwhile..._

"Alright...just a few more tweaks...and voila!" exclaimed Levy.

Miraculously, she had managed to get another interdimensional portal running.

"Hopefully it's going to stay this time..." answered the letter mage.

Curious, she began to wonder where Naruto was so that he could tell him and his friends that they could go home.

At that very moment, Erza entered the portal chamber.

"Hey there! Have you seen Naruto?" asked Levy.

"He's on a mission..." answered the knight.

"That's a shame! I just got the interdimensional portal running again! It should stay this time too!" exclaimed Levy.

"That's too bad." spoke Erza.

"But at least he should be able to go home now, right?" inquired the letter mage.

"I guess so." nodded the knight.

"I'm going to miss the guy..." she thought.

"Let me know when he gets back." answered Levy.

"At least I'll get to see Lucy, Natsu, and Gray again..." thought Erza.

"OK, I will." nodded the knight.

"Personally I want to see what's on the other side myself..." noted Levy.

"Yeah, me too." agreed Erza.

"It must be a rather interesting world..." acknowledged the leader of Team Shadow Gear.

"I bet so." nodded the knight.

At that very moment, Makarov came into the portal room.

"So, is the portal ready again?" asked the guildmaster.

"Yes, it is, guildmaster." answered Levy.

"That's a relief...I can finally get my old mages back..." noted Makarov.

"Of course, we are going to have to say goodbye to our new friends..." acknowledged Erza.

"Oh, right. Of course...then again, we might still be able to keep in contact with them." answered the guildmaster.

"They might want to revisit us if there's a special occasion." noted Levy.

"Right, I suppose they might be interested in that." nodded Erza.

Immediately, Makarov began casting a spell on the interdimensional portal.

He finished casting a few minutes later.

"There! That should come in handy if we want to communicate with anyone in the world of ninja later..." answered the guildmaster.

Levy nodded her head.

"Who should we try communicating with?" asked Erza.

"I'm not sure..." spoke Makarov.

_Meanwhile..._

Shikamaru got the feeling that something rather exciting was going to happen today. He wasn't quite sure what, though.

"What's going on?" inquired the shadow ninja.

Was Konoha going to get attacked? He sure hoped not. Last time someone declared war on Konoha, the Third Hokage ended up getting slain trying to defend them.

"Darn it, Orochimaru. You are such a drag." he thought.

To think that he had corrupted Sasuke with the Cursed Seal, too. It wasn't going to be the same without him.

Not to mention all those twisted experiments.

Why exactly did Itachi Uchiha kill off the Uchiha Clan, anyway? He wasn't quite sure.

"To think that Sasuke wouldn't have left us if it weren't for that..." spoke Shikamaru. Why exactly did he do it?

He had heard rumors that he had done so to prevent the world of ninja from declaring war on each other...though he wasn't sure if they were true. He was a bit surprised at what crazy rumors there were these days.

There was a fact a rumor going around that Naruto had been abducted with aliens.

"They didn't abduct him...I'm sure that they're friends with him..." answered the shadow ninja.

There was also a rumor that Hinata had been kidnapped by someone who wanted her Byakugan.

"She didn't get kidnapped...she went to search for Naruto..." said Shikamaru.

And of course, there was a rumor that Sakura had run off to be with Sasuke.

"Well, to be honest, I can see why people would think that...but she went to search for Naruto too. I was there when it happened..." answered the shadow ninja.

To be honest, he wasn't quite sure if he should try making an interdimensional portal again. Unlike the one that Fairy Tail had made, his was rather chaotic.

"I wouldn't want our worlds to somehow get merged together...then again, maybe they already have." noted Shikamaru.

It appeared that things weren't going to be the same in Konoha now that magicians from another world had paid them a visit.

Speaking of which he was wondering how Lucy was doing. She hadn't returned from her mission yet.

"Is she doing alright?" he asked to himself.

Personally he got the feeling that Lucy was a decent fighter and could look after herself.

Then again, he still couldn't help but feel a bit worried. Missions could be rather dangerous.

He got the feeling that Tsunade was right to bring a healer along.

At that very moment, Asuma Sarutobi approached him.

"How are you doing?" inquired Asuma.

"Pretty good. I'm starting to get worried about Lucy though...granted, she is the female protagonist of this fanfic...so I think that she would have a pretty hard time dying...thank goodness for plot armor..." noted the shadow ninja.

"I would imagine so, yeah..." answered the jonin.

"Then again, I don't think I can be too careful. I believe in Naruto Shippuden you got killed by Hidan, did you not?" asked Shikamaru.

"It's true, I did...personally I'm a bit surprised that I'm alive in this fanfic..." answered Asuma.

"Well, the beginning of this fanfic takes place during the beginning of Naruto Shippuden before you got horribly slaughtered...so maybe you'll survive this round. I don't know..." noted the shadow ninja.

"Maybe..." nodded the jonin.

"I suppose I should worry about Naruto as well...of course, he's the male protagonist of this fanfic but...sheesh, I'm breaking the fourth wall a lot today, aren't I?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Yes, you are." nodded Asuma.

"I guess I might as well just pray for them with my heart." answered the shadow ninja.

"I'll pray for them too." answered the jonin.

"Thank you..." nodded Shikamaru.

Immediately, Asuma left so that he could do so.

"Author, are you there? Please, don't let Lucy die! I love her! And don't let Naruto die either! I love him...though not in the same way." bellowed Shikamaru.

_Naruto and his friends have become vampires, oh dear! Oh dear! Thankfully, Hinata managed to cure Naruto...but can they cure Sakura and Gajeel too?_

_Oh, and Lucy and her friends defeat Setsuna and Chihiro?_

_Find out in the next chapter of Ninja Tail!_


	27. Chapter 27: A Chance Encounter

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Lucy and her friends are going to defeat Setsuna and Chihiro...only to end up running into someone much worse._

_Can you guess who it is?_

_Oh, and Naruto and his friends are going to slay a vampire. Yay._

**Chapter 27: A Chance Encounter**

Chihiro continued to charge up for her energy attack. Already, she had gathered quite a bit of energy.

"Hahaha! In just a few minutes you'll all be wiped off the face of the earth!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Setsuna was beginning to wonder if the energy wave was going to destroy the entire camp, and began to feel rather worried.

Then again, her bandits could always rebuild. By the looks of it, they had already evacuated when they realized what was going to happen.

However, Lucy quickly noticed how long Chihiro was taking. Why was it taking her so long?

It then occurred to her that maybe she should try attacking her so that the jutsu would be dispelled.

"That seems worth a shot as any." noted Lucy.

Immediately, she summoned a weasel to bite Chihiro in the leg.

This worked surprisingly well.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Shortly afterwards, she lost concentration and the chakra surrounding her disappeared.

"What happened?" asked Chihiro.

"I think you took too long to use the jutsu..." explained Setsuna.

"Oh, c'mon!" bellowed the kunoichi.

Deciding to take their chances, Natsu, Gray, and Juvia then launched their attack.

Immediately, Natsu punched Chihiro in rapid succession.

"Aah!" bellowed the kunoichi.

She was sent flying, and crashed into a hut.

"What's going on?" inquired Chihiro.

Gray then punched her in the face, and knocked her out cold.

"Chihiro!" bellowed Setsuna.

Shortly afterwards, Juvia entered Setsuna's body.

"Hey there!" exclaimed Juvia.

Setsuna must have been terrified at the occurrence, because she passed out on the spot.

Juvia left Setsuna's body shortly afterwards.

"Can you use Sakon and Ukon's parasite technique?" inquired Gray.

"Sorry, no. The author thought that might be a bit overpowered since I'm a protagonist now...besides, I believe they needed the second stage of the cursed seal to do that..." answered Juvia.

"Ah well." nodded Gray.

"So, did we win?" asked Natsu.

"I believe so. The bandits are retreating." answered Lucy.

"They shouldn't bother Konoha for a while then." nodded the ice mage.

Immediately, Lucy pulled out a scroll.

"Let's send them to Tsunade, shall we? She'll want more slaves for her slave camp." said the kunoichi.

Using the scroll, she transported Setsuna and Chihiro to Konoha.

"So, does that take care of them?" inquired Natsu.

"Yes, Natsu. It looks like a job well done." answered Lucy.

_A few minutes later..._

Setsuna and Chihiro appeared at Tsunade's slave camp...with shackles on their wrists and ankles.

"Darn it! I can't believe we've become slaves!" exclaimed Chihiro.

"You didn't seem happy with your old life..." noted Setsuna.

"Well, being rich had its perks...I guess." answered the storm ninja.

"Get to work!" ordered Tsunade.

"I'm going to kill you one day!" screamed Takeshi.

"Yarr! I see that we have some more slaves here!" exclaimed Captain Bloodbeard.

"Yes, we do, Captain Bloodbeard." nodded Setsuna.

"Yarr!" bellowed the captain.

"Why do you keep talking like that? It's messed up." said Chihiro.

"It's a verbal tic! Yarr!" exclaimed Captain Bloodbeard.

Chihiro shrugged as she began to lift some heavy rocks.

"I'm making them work off their debts to society while making them work off my own...I'm such a genius." thought Tsunade.

"Can we go home? I'm starting to get scurvy..." answered the pirate.

Tsunade tossed an orange at the pirate.

"Thank you." said the pirate as he began to eat the orange.

"Wouldn't want you all to get diseased...I've got standards here..." said the kunoichi.

"Thank goodness..." answered the pirate.

"Oddly enough so do I. Yarr." spoke Captain Bloodbeard.

"Huh? You do?" asked Tsunade.

"Well, I've never bothered stealing from the poor. Yarr." answered the captain.

"That's because the poor don't have ships." said one of the pirates.

"Oh, right...yarr..." spoke the pirate captain.

_Now back to our heroes._

Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Juvia happily left the bandit camp. They were rather satisfied to how the mission had gone.

"At this rate we'll be able to become jonin." noted Lucy.

"Yeah." nodded Natsu.

Suddenly, they began to hear the sound of wings flapping.

"Hmm?" asked Gray.

"Wha?" inquired Juvia.

Natsu gasped in fear. He recognized that sound.

Sure enough, there was Kenichi...and this time he appeared to have noticed them.

"Oh god..." answered Lucy.

Immediately, he landed his dragon so that he could talk to them.

He began to scan them with his Rinnegan to see if they were weak.

Much to his surprise, he found the same sort of mysterious energy he had encountered in his previous victims.

Nonetheless, he found them to be inferior to himself.

However, he then remembered that he wanted to save his chakra for the clan he wanted to wipe out.

Granted, he had gone away to kill three people that were not residing at their clan residence at the moment a few weeks ago...but he had not yet decided on a clan to target at the time.

"What have we here? It looks like we have more weak ninja..." answered Kenichi.

"We're not weak!" exclaimed Natsu.

"You know...you remind me of the three I encountered earlier...they had the exact same energy I see now..." answered the ninja.

"Huh?" inquired Lucy. Was he referring to their magic power?

Juvia's eyes lit up. He must have been referring to her deceased comrades.

"I had to admit, it was so satisfying to my pride to slay them...normally I would have saved my chakra for the clan I wiped out earlier today...but their mysterious energy intrigued me..." spoke Kenichi.

The water inside of Juvia began to boil.

"You're the one who killed them?!" exclaimed the water mage.

"Are you angry? Personally I think you should be thanking me. They were vermin that deserved to be exterminated...and quite frankly, so are you and your friends." answered Kenichi.

The water inside Juvia began to boil even more. She honestly hoped that she would be able to kill Kenichi someday.

Gray immediately pointed to the Rinnegan wielder.

"You will pay for what you did to her comrades! I promise you that!" bellowed Gray.

Immediately, Lucy fired a Rasengan at Kenichi.

However, much to his surprise, he caught it in his hand without even flinching.

"Trying to use the Rasengan, are we? I've heard of that technique quite some time ago...unfortunately, thanks to my Preta Path...the Rasengan is little more than a child's plaything to me..." answered Kenichi.

He promptly smashed it in his hand into chakra powder, much to Lucy's shock.

"Normally, I would kill you right here and now...but I've got a pretty big clan on my hit list. So I'm simply going to give you a parting present..." said Kenichi.

"What?" asked Natsu.

Immediately, he summoned a clone of himself to kill the four with.

"You have no chance to survive. Go ahead, make my day and your time." answered the ninja.

"Get back here!" demanded Juvia, wanting revenge on him for killing her comrades.

However, Kenichi simply flew away on his dragon, ready to cut a swath of terror across his next targeted clan.

Shortly afterwards, the clone began to attack.

"This isn't going to be easy..." noted Lucy.

_Meanwhile..._

Hinata leapt towards Sakura and Gajeel, trying to hit them with her Gentle Fist technique.

"What the-" exclaimed Sakura.

"Something tells me you don't want to get hit by that...believe me, I know from experience." answered the iron dragonslayer.

Hinata immediately set up a wall of fire to prevent Sakura and Gajeel from running away from her fists.

"Aren't you a clever girl." noted Vampire Gajeel.

"Gajeel! Sakura! We need to cure you from your vampirism!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Huh? I thought Dracferatu vampirized you too..." questioned Vampire Sakura.

"Hinata found a way to cure me..." explained Naruto.

"Well, that's a problem." acknowledged Vampire Gajeel.

"Yes, I imagine it is for you." nodded Hinata.

"I guess we're going to have to take you both down so that we can remain vampires..." said Vampire Sakura.

Immediately, she punched Naruto and sent him flying.

"Not again!" exclaimed the genin.

This was then followed by Vampire Gajeel kicking Naruto to the ground.

He then ripped off his shirt and punched him in the stomach.

Naruto let out a sigh.

"I can't believe Gajeel ripped off my shirt again...well, I guess it's not his fault this time..." spoke the genin.

Unfortunately for Hinata, she was distracted at the sight of Naruto's bare chest, allowing Sakura to punch her as well.

"Ugh..." murmured the kunoichi.

Shortly afterwards, blood began to leak out of her mouth, causing Vampire Sakura to squeal.

"Huh? Oh that's right...you're vampires...you love blood..." answered Hinata.

"We sure do!" exclaimed Vampire Gajeel.

"Wasn't there something that I could use against vampires in my bag?" asked the kunoichi.

Sure enough, there was some holy water.

"Stand back!" demanded Hinata, splashing the duo with holy water.

"Aaugh!" bellowed Vampire Sakura.

"It burns!" exclaimed Vampire Gajeel.

Seizing the opportunity, Naruto grabbed onto Gajeel and restrained him.

"Let go!" bellowed the iron dragonslayer.

"Do it now! Hit him with your Gentle Fist!" ordered Naruto.

Hinata nodded, and began to pummel Vampire Gajeel with her Gentle Fist technique.

Immediately, he began to turn back to normal.

"Noooo!" bellowed Vampire Sakura. She seemed rather upset at the occurrence.

"Well, there's just one vampire left..." noted Naruto.

"What happened to your shirt?" asked Gajeel.

"You ripped it off while you were still a vampire..." explained the genin.

Gajeel sweatdropped.

"Of course, Sakura still happens to be a vampire..." noted Hinata.

Immediately, Gajeel wrestled Vampire Sakura to the ground, causing her to blush.

"I guess I should cure her too..." acknowledged the kunoichi.

Using her Gentle Fist technique, she was able to turn Sakura back to normal as well.

"What happened?" asked Sakura.

"You got turned into a vampire..." explained Naruto.

Curious, Sakura noticed that Gajeel had pinned her to the ground, and began to blush.

"He restrained you so that we could turn you back to normal..." explained Hinata.

Gajeel immediately released Sakura.

"So, are we all cured then?" asked the kunoichi.

"I believe so, yes..." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, Hinata handed Sakura and Gajeel garlic necklaces so that they wouldn't get bitten in the neck again.

"This should ward off the vampire...right?" inquired Gajeel.

"It should..." answered Hinata.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't looking forward to getting bitten again.

_Meanwhile..._

Dracferatu let out a sigh. He got the feeling that the vampireslayers had somehow managed to cure their friends.

And at this rate, they were going to find him and try to stick a stake through his heart.

Then again, considering the fact that he regularly drank the blood of the innocent and loved every bit of it...it was only a matter of time before they came.

Fortunately, he happened to be a rather powerful magician, and had set up defenses to ensure that they could not invade his castle.

"Right then...I'll start activating my defenses now...ahhahaha." said the vampire.

Sure enough, the defenses began to take effect.

Suddenly, some of the suits of armor that had previously served as decorations came to life.

"Uh-oh..." thought Naruto.

And to make matters worse, they were armed with several different weapons.

"Not good." thought Hinata.

Immediately, one of the suits of armor tried to smash Naruto with a hammer.

"Aah!" exclaimed the genin as he jumped out of the way.

This was followed by one of the suits of armor trying to slash Hinata with a sword.

"Eep!" bellowed Hinata as she ducked underneath it.

Which was followed by one of the suits of armor trying to impale Sakura.

"Sheesh!" exclaimed Sakura as she leapt out of the way.

Finally, one of the suits of armor tried to ram into Gajeel with a spiked shield.

However, as it turned out, Dracferatu's defense system had a flaw.

Suddenly, Gajeel began devouring the suits of armor.

"These taste surprisingly good considering how old they are..." noted the iron dragonslayer.

Immediately, he began to eat the suits of armor so that he could save his friends.

Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura let out a sigh of relief. They thought for a second that they were going to wind up dead.

However, they noticed that there appeared to be more suits of armor nearby.

"You might want to eat some more of them in case they happen to be enchanted too..." suggested Sakura.

"Yes, of course." nodded Gajeel.

Immediately, he continued eating the suits of armor.

"You think this is Dracferatu's only security system?" inquired Naruto.

"Probably not." answered Hinata.

"Well, I suppose things aren't always going to be this easy..." noted the genin.

_Meanwhile..._

Kenichi's clone turned his arm into a sword, and began to swing it at the foursome.

"Die!" bellowed the clone.

"Look out!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Sheesh...even his clone is rather dangerous..." noted Natsu.

Immediately, Gray countered with an ice sword of his own.

Taking advantage of the situation, Juvia punched the clone hoping that it would explode.

However, unlike Naruto's shadow clones, this particular clone could endure a lot of punishment, though a bit of smoke did appear nonetheless.

Immediately, the clone kicked Juvia away.

It then followed by tossing several kunai at the foursome.

"Kenichi must be pretty powerful if his clone is a decent fighter..." noted the kunoichi.

Immediately, she tried creating clones of her own.

Unfortunately, they didn't hinder Kenichi's clone too much. He began to cut through the clones using his arm sword.

In response, Lucy hit the clone with her Rasengan.

Like his original counterpart, Kenichi was able to use his Preta Path to defend himself against ninjutsu. Unlike his original counterpart, however, he was having difficulty preventing the Rasengan from harming him.

Sure enough, he was holding onto it in his hands, trying to prevent it from reaching his face.

Taking advantage of the situation, Natsu punched the clone in the face and knocked him to the floor.

This allowed the Rasengan to strike Kenichi's clone, causing smoke to appear out of his body. Apparently, that attack did a number on him.

Unfortunately, Kenichi's clone was able to summon a weaker version of the King Of Hell in the event that he ended up being threatened.

Immediately, he jumped into the King Of Hell and began to heal.

"Stop him!" exclaimed Lucy.

Gray began to attack the King Of Hell, causing it to be reduced to dust. Thankfully, unlike the real Kenichi's King Of Hell, it took quite some time to heal its summoner completely.

Not only that, but it was going to take some time before he could summon it again.

Nonetheless, some of the smoke surrounding the clone had disappeared, and he was ready to battle once again.

Immediately, the clone began to summon animals to defend himself.

"Go and kill!" bellowed the clone.

"Deja vu..." murmured Lucy.

Shortly afterwards, a snake began to wrap itself across her body.

"Let me go!" demanded the kunoichi.

Once again, it was Natsu to the rescue.

"Thank goodness..." said Lucy.

However, the snake bit Natsu on the hand in the process.

"Ugh..." murmured the fire mage.

Unfortunately, it was rather venomous.

This time, it was Juvia to the rescue, who stuffed Natsu inside her body so that the poison would be washed away.

Fortunately, the animals did not cause them too many problems other than that incident.

However, Kenichi's clone retaliated by turning his arm into a claw and slashing Juvia across the face.

Naturally, Natsu felt that as well.

"Thank goodness this clone can't summon that dragon I saw Kenichi with earlier...otherwise we'd probably be dead by now." thought Lucy.

However, though Kenichi's clone could not summon a dragon of that caliber, it could summon a lizard that bore a resemblance to it.

Immediately, it began to use that lizard as a flamethrower so that his opponents would burn.

"Burn!" exclaimed the clone.

Fortunately for Natsu, he was able to absorb the flames and spit them back at Kenichi's clone, giving him several first-degree burns.

Unfortunately, Kenichi's clone pulled him out of Juvia's body in retaliation and began to rip his soul out from his body.

"Aaaauuugh!" exclaimed Natsu. Having your soul ripped off from your body by Kenichi was very painful indeed.

This time, it was Lucy of all people to the rescue.

She hit Kenichi's clone with another Rasengan. This time, he wasn't paying attention and he was hit headon.

"Aargh!" bellowed the clone.

Immediately, Kenichi's clone fell on the floor.

Natsu then snapped the clone's neck, causing it to explode into smoke.

"You may have defeated me...but I shall eradicate you yet!" said the clone as he burst.

Suffice to say, the four of them were rather surprised at the occurrence. Maybe Kenichi wasn't quite as strong as he claimed he was.

"Did we just take out one of his clones?" inquired Gray.

"I believe so...man, it sure was a hassle for us..." noted Lucy.

"At least we managed to score a victory over Kenichi!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Don't get too excited, Natsu...the real Kenichi is still out there." answered the summoner mage.

"Oh, right..." nodded the fire mage.

"And he's going to wipe out another clan...and a large one too at that." noted Lucy.

"Oh man..." murmured Natsu.

"We have to stop him!" exclaimed Juvia, still wanting revenge on Kenichi.

"Getting back to Konoha would be a better decision. One of his clones was enough hassle for us as it was...imagine if he sent two of them after us..." questioned Gray.

"Oh, you're right..." nodded Juvia.

She immediately let out a sigh. She was hoping that she would be able to avenge her teammates...but apparently she wasn't going to be able to do today.

"I guess we should go home..." answered the water mage.

Gray nodded.

Immediately, the four went to go tell Tsunade about their encounter with Kenichi on their way back from their mission.

_Meanwhile..._

Kenichi let out a frown of disappointment. Apparently, the foursome he had encountered earlier had managed to slay one of his clones.

Granted, he could summon no less than a dozen of them at once if he wanted to, but it was still a disappointment nonetheless.

Perhaps they weren't quite as weak as he thought they were.

"No matter. Minor setback. If I encounter them again, I'm not going to go so easy on them..." thought Kenichi.

On the plus side, he had reached his destination.

This time, he had chosen to attack a clan by the name of Mizuhara that happened to live near a dock.

Kaishi immediately let out a growl.

"As much as I would like to send you out to destroy this filth...I think I'm going to try summoning something different." said Kenichi.

Immediately, he flew towards the water and pressed his hand on the ground.

Shortly afterwards, tentacles began to emerge from the water.

As it turned out, he had summoned the very creature he typically used whenever he wished to flood a city.

In this case, it was Shinsui, which was basically a giant octopus.

Immediately, it rose to the surface.

"Flood this clan until they all drown!" exclaimed Kenichi.

Shinsui nodded, and began to create a tidal wave.

Immediately, the unfortunate clan members screamed in horror as their village was flooded.

In a period about half an hour, they all drowned.

Kenichi smiled in satisfaction. Another clan had been successfully wiped out.

As he did so, he began to flashback back to when he was a teenager.

_Kenichi's parents mourned the death of their son. How could this happen to him?_

_They got the feeling that he had committed suicide...his clan had never treated him well._

_Unbeknownst to them, Kenichi was watching nearby._

_"What? They're actually mourning the death of that little rat? They should be celebrating!" exclaimed the ninja._

_His parents had behaved that way for quite some time now, and he was finally sick of it._

_"No matter. They'll be joining him shortly." answered Kenichi._

_Immediately, he pulled out a paper bomb that he had designed himself._

_"Let's see now...this should do the trick..." said the ninja._

_He promptly flung it as hard as he could._

_Still mourning the death of their son, Kenichi's parents did not notice him tossing the paper bomb._

_They were immediately blown to bits, and their blood was splattered across Kenichi's face._

_He immediately wiped his face off._

_"There...now there are less weak ninja in the world..." answered Kenichi._

_Speaking of which, he was starting to wonder if he should try slaying some other ninja that he knew as well. They clearly did not belong in the world of ninja._

_"I should really get to work..." noted the ninja._

_Immediately, he left his house, leaving the bodies of his parents behind._

"I can't help but remember my first victims..." thought Kenichi.

Deciding that his job was finished, Kenichi once again began to fly away.

As he did so, he dismissed his giant octopus.

"I'll have use for you when I visit another port town..." thought Kenichi.

_Meanwhile..._

"Greetings! Do you have any news for me?" asked Tsunade.

"We ran into Kenichi on our way back from our mission..." explained Lucy.

"You did?!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Yes...fortunately we were lucky and he only sent one of our clones after us..." answered the kunoichi.

"We managed to defeat it, too!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Congratulations...you actually managed to encounter Kenichi and survive...more than I can say for almost everyone else..." noted Tsunade.

"We hope that we'll be able to stop him someday." answered Gray.

"Juvia will kill him for what he did to my comrades!" exclaimed Juvia.

"Hopefully one of us will be able to slay him one day. He's killed countless people..." noted Tsunade.

"It's true, he has." nodded Lucy.

"Anyways...congratulations on defeating the bandits." answered the Sannin.

"Thanks." said the kunoichi.

Sure enough, it was getting rather late.

"I think it's time for us to go to bed..." spoke Lucy.

"Yeah..." nodded Natsu.

"Where am I going to stay?" asked Gray.

"Well, there happens to be a house over there..." answered Tsunade.

"But where is Juvia going to sleep?" inquired the ice mage.

"Juvia knows!" exclaimed Juvia.

Immediately, she entered Gray's body and began to sleep.

"Juvia wanting to sleep inside my body is rather sweet...but this is going to take some time getting used to." noted Gray.

Shrugging, he decided to go to his new house and get some rest.

_Meanwhile..._

Continuing to explore the castle, the foursome resumed their search for Dracferatu.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he did not pay attention and ended up falling through a trapdoor.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the genin.

"Naruto!" bellowed Sakura.

"Where did he go?" questioned Gajeel.

Curious, Hinata used her Byakugan to search for Naruto.

As she discovered, he had fallen into the castle dungeon.

Thankfully, it wasn't a big drop.

Immediately, she jumped down into the dungeon with him.

"Are you OK?" asked Hinata.

"I think so...man, that was scary." noted Naruto.

"Haven't we been here before?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I believe we have..." nodded the genin.

Suddenly, the skeletons inside the dungeons came to life.

"What the-" said Naruto.

"Um guys...I think we need some help here..." spoke Hinata.

Immediately, the skeletons began to bash down their cell doors.

Sakura and Gajeel entered the dungeon as well.

Sure enough, one of the skeletons bust down their cell door, and began to attack the foursome.

Thankfully, their bones were brittle and weren't too hard to break, as they were rather old skeletons.

Nonetheless, they were going to be a hassle in a horde, and more skeletons were breaking free from their cells.

"This must be another one of Dracferatu's defense mechanisms..." noted Naruto.

"Apparently." nodded Hinata.

Immediately, the skeletons began to pull out some swords.

"This reminds me back when Erza and I battled Chiyoye..." answered the genin.

Fortunately for his sanity, these skeletons were somewhat goofy-looking in comparision to Chiyoye's undead forces.

"That's a relief..." thought Naruto.

Thanks to her super strength, Sakura was able to punch through the skeletons and pound them into dust.

Likewise, Gajeel was able to do the same. Also, he was able to devour the skeleton's swords, as they were made of metal.

However, not all of the skeletons were taking them from up close. Some of them were shooting at them with bows.

"Hmm...it seems that the skeletons have somewhat of a varied arsenal." noted Naruto.

"Yeah..." nodded Hinata.

In retaliation, Sakura began to roll a snowball towards them. It knocked them down like bowling pins.

Gajeel then took the opportunity to hit them with his Iron Dragon's Roar, causing them all to crumble.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" inquired Naruto.

Curious, Hinata used her Byakugan to search for Dracferatu.

"It looks like he's up on the roof." said the kunoichi.

"I guess we should head there then." nodded Sakura.

"Let's kick some vampire butt!" exclaimed Gajeel.

"I don't want to touch his butt." complained Hinata.

Gajeel sweatdropped.

_A few minutes later..._

Dracferatu sighed. His defense mechanisms weren't working at all. The four vampireslayers were still making their way towards him.

He let out a sigh. It looked like he was going to have to deal with them himself.

"Ah well. This makes things more fun. Ahhahaha." answered the vampire.

Personally he was starting to wonder why the villagers simply didn't form an angry mob and go to slay him. That would be the simple solution.

Maybe they were all cowards?

Either that, or they felt that sending mercenaries was a better solution to the job.

"Right then, I'll be waiting for them...and when they approach me...I'll suck their blood out! Ahhahahaha." answered Dracferatu.

"You do realize that we're right here, right?" inquired Naruto.

Dracferatu gasped in surprise. He was not expecting them to approach him so quickly.

"How did you get here so fast?" asked the vampire curiously.

"We found a secret staircase leading directly to the roof...who would have thought that there was one in the dungeon?" asked Sakura.

"One of the skeletons showed it to us, actually. Seems that he hated you for biting him in the neck." answered Gajeel.

"You're not going to suck the blood out of any more innocent people!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, she tossed a fireball at Dracferatu.

Frantically, he leapt out of the way. Fire was one of a vampire's weaknesses.

Well, that and he didn't want his cape to be set on fire. He loved his cape.

Sakura then followed by creating some stakes made of ice and tossing them at Dracferatu as well.

Dracferatu gasped in shock. If one of them hit him in the heart, he was going to be dead!

Well, more dead than he was now.

Naturally, Gajeel was trying to hit him in the heart as well.

Fortunately, he could use his cape as a shield.

In retaliation, he began to charge up a dark energy sphere.

"You're not slaying me! On the contrary, I am going to be slaying you! Ahahahaha." answered Dracferatu.

"Why do you keep laughing like that?" asked Sakura curiously.

"I'm a vampire! I love to laugh! Get over it! Ahahahaha." said the vampire as he tossed the dark energy sphere at Sakura.

As it quickly turned out, the dark energy sphere was rather explosive, and Sakura was knocked back quite a few feet.

"Sheesh." said Sakura as she rubbed her head.

Dracferatu then followed by revealing a swarm of vampire bats underneath his cape, which began to Naruto, Hinata, and Gajeel.

"Agh!" bellowed Naruto.

"Get off!" demanded Hinata.

"Ergh!" exclaimed Gajeel.

"What exactly do you have in your cape?" asked Sakura.

"Lots of things, actually. Ahahahaha." answered Dracferatu.

"Like...what?" inquired Sakura.

"Like this!" exclaimed the vampire.

Immediately, he pulled out a Twilight novel.

"Uh-oh..." thought Sakura.

He then tossed it at Sakura, hitting her in the face.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Shortly afterwards, she began to feel rather sick.

"Ugh..." murmured Sakura.

"You OK?" asked Gajeel.

"I think so...that Twilight novel made me feel ill..." explained the kunoichi.

"Yeah, it tends to do that to people." answered Gajeel.

Suddenly, Dracferatu pulled out a Twilight: New Moon CD.

"It's on CD now?!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

"It sure is. Ahhahaha." spoke the vampire.

Immediately, he flung the CD at Gajeel, cutting his face.

"Agh!" bellowed the iron dragonslayer.

Shortly afterwards, he began to vomit.

"Twilight is so awful..." murmured Gajeel.

"This isn't going good..." noted Naruto.

"Maybe if we hit him with holy water, he'll be weakened?" inquired Hinata.

"Well, I have water balloons to put them in..." answered the genin.

"Let's try that." nodded the fire dragonslayer.

Immediately, Naruto began to fill the water balloons with holy water.

"There...now we can use these against the vampire." said the genin.

Unfortunately for Sakura and Gajeel, Dracferatu was about to sing the Twilight theme song using a microphone.

"Let's see you face the music. Ahhahaha." said Dracferatu.

Immediately, he began to sing the song, causing Sakura and Gajeel to scream in pain.

"Aaargh!" screamed the kunoichi.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" bellowed the iron dragonslayer.

"It's over! Ahahahaha." said the vampire.

"I think it's over for you." answered Naruto.

"Huh?" asked Dracferatu.

Immediately, Hinata pelted Dracferatu with the holy water balloons, causing him to scream in pain.

"Agh! Now you've done it! You've wounded me!" bellowed the count.

"That was kind of the idea..." answered the fire dragonslayer.

Seizing his opportunity, Naruto went up to Dracferatu and stabbed him in the heart with a stake, causing him to scream in pain as he began to turn to ash.

"Agh! Well, it's been a nice thousand years." noted the dying vampire.

Dracferatu collapsed into an ash pile on the floor, leaving behind only his clothes.

Shortly afterwards, the sun came up.

"It looks like we've succeeded in our mission." noted Hinata.

Naruto immediately dressed himself in Dracferatu's clothing.

"Well, this should replace my ripped off shirt..." noted the genin.

"Yeah..." nodded Gajeel.

"Let's go home, shall we?" asked Naruto.

Sakura, Hinata, and Gajeel nodded.

Immediately, they began to head back to Fairy Tail to celebrate their success.

_Meanwhile..._

"Hey there, Shikamaru." said Lucy.

"Hey, Lucy...how was your mission?" inquired Shikamaru.

As he asked that, Lucy noticed that he looked rather relieved.

"Pretty good...unfortunately, we ran into Kenichi." answered the kunoichi.

"What? You did?" asked the shadow ninja.

"Yes, we did...we were lucky to survive, to be honest. He only sent one of our clones after us." answered Lucy.

"Did he now?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Thankfully, we were able to destroy it by working together as a team...I guess Kenichi is going to have to do better than that if he wants to kill us." noted the kunoichi.

"That's a relief..." answered the shadow ninja.

"However, I think that he wiped out another clan...he mentioned that before he left us alone with one of his clones." acknowledged Lucy.

"That's terrible." nodded Shikamaru.

"Yes...when is the bloodshed going to end?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Well, since you managed to defeat one of his clones...you might be able to stand a chance against him." noted Shikamaru.

"True...but I don't think his clone was nearly as strong as the original...Kenichi was able to destroy my Rasengan somewhat easily...while his clone struggled to keep it in place..." acknowledged Lucy.

"Oh...I guess you still have a long way to go if you want to fight him then." spoke the shadow ninja.

"Well, I do seem to be getting stronger...maybe if I summoned Gamabunta he could keep his dragon busy?" questioned Lucy.

"Maybe...that dragon has the power to destroy an entire clan with his fire breath though...you might need something to back him up..." suggested Shikamaru.

"I suppose I might need something like that..." nodded the kunoichi.

"I guess you should keep training for now...the stronger you become, the more likely you'll be able to defeat him..." answered the shadow ninja.

"You're right...maybe I will be able to defeat him some day." noted Lucy.

"I'm going to sleep now..." said Shikamaru.

Once again, he went to sleep.

"I guess I should go to bed too...it's pretty late." answered the summoner mage.

Immediately, she headed back to Naruto's apartment.

_A few minutes later..._

Lucy laid across Naruto's bed, thinking about what had happened recently. She sure wasn't expecting to have a chance encounter with Kenichi.

Granted, she had already encountered him once before...but he hadn't noticed them that time. They had dodged a kunai back then.

"I sure am glad I managed to encounter Kenichi and survive...then again, I might not be so lucky if it happens again." noted Lucy.

According to Kenichi, he had been saving most of his chakra for wiping out another clan. If he had used more of his chakra to attack the foursome, they might have been dead by now.

**"Kenichi is a horrible person."** said Kurama.

"Hmm? You're disturbed by his actions too?" inquired Lucy.

**"I may be a bloodthirsty monster...but I have standards in my evil." **explained Kurama.

"That's good to hear." noted Lucy.

**"Yeah...I guess." **nodded Lucy.

"He must have a lot of chakra inside his body..." answered the kunoichi.

**"Believe me...he has enough raw power to be a member of the Akatsuki...I could feel it when I saw him..." **spoke Kurama.

"The Akatsuki?" asked Lucy.

**"They're a group of people out to capture and kill jinchuriki just like you and Gaara..." **explained the nine-tailed fox.

"Oh my..." answered the kunoichi.

Of course, considering the fact that Kenichi wielded the Rinnegan, it wasn't surprising that he was one of the most powerful ninja out there.

"It's a shame that someone so evil has so much power..." noted Lucy.

If only someone more benevolent had obtained the Rinnegan instead...that way the world of ninja would have a lot less problems.

Immediately, she went to bed. As she did so, she began to dream of a certain ninja.

"Wow, Shikamaru...look at you and your tremendous abs..." murmured Lucy in her sleep.

_Meanwhile..._

Naruto and his friends arrived back at the Fairy Tail guild.

Sure enough, Erza was happy to see him.

"Did you slay the vampire?" asked the knight.

"Yes, I did." nodded Naruto.

"Congratulations, Naruto! You're a vampire slayer!" exclaimed Erza.

"Yes, I sure am." answered the genin.

"We're vampire slayers too, I believe." nodded Hinata.

"Congratulations." said Erza.

"Can we go to bed now? I'm tired..." complained Sakura.

"Me too..." nodded Gajeel.

"Me three..." answered Hinata.

"Yes, you can. I was about to go to bed myself..." noted Erza.

"Right, of course...time for me to go to sleep too..." nodded Naruto.

"Why are you dressed like a vampire?" asked the S-Class Mage.

"My shirt got ripped off again..." answered the genin.

"What was it this time?" inquired Erza.

"Gajeel turned into a vampire...he ripped off my shirt...so I replaced it with the dead vampire's clothing..." said Naruto.

"Did you now?" asked the knight.

"Since he was reduced to ash, I figured that he wouldn't need it..." noted the genin.

"Alright then." nodded Erza.

"Of course, people are probably going to think that I'm a vampire now..." answered Naruto.

"Won't you be a cute little vampire..." answered the knight.

"What?" asked the gnein.

"Nothing." spoke Erza.

"I guess I'll wear this for a Halloween party...I'm going to go look for another shirt for now...and head to bed after that." said Naruto.

"OK. See you." answered the S-Class Mage.

Naruto immediately went to look for another pair of clothing.

He found one a few minutes later.

"There we go!" exclaimed the genin.

_Meanwhile..._

"You are so awesome, Hinata! I wish I could be a vampire slayer like you!" exclaimed Happy.

"Really? That's sweet of you..." noted Hinata.

"Can you give me your autograph?" asked the Exceed.

"Sure, why not." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, Happy pulled out a piece of paper and handed Hinata a pen.

She then gave Happy her autograph.

"Thank you! I'm going to treasure this forever!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"Aren't you a fanboy." answered Hinata.

Immediately, Happy put the piece of paper on Natsu's dresser.

"So, are you going to sleep now? It's pretty late now..." noted Hinata.

"Yes, I am..." nodded Happy.

Immediately, he dozed off, and Hinata put him in his cat basket.

"I guess I should go to sleep too..." noted the fire dragonslayer.

She began to lie down in Natsu's hammock.

Oddly enough, she got the feeling that she was going to get to go home soon.

Was it wishful thinking? Or was her instinct kicking in?

"Well, here's hoping that it's the latter...then again, I am going to miss Happy...he always makes me smile." she thought.

She was starting to see why Natsu always kept him around, and why they were so close.

"I guess I'll have to say goodbye to him once I get to go back home..." answered Hinata.

She then began to doze off.

"Zzz..." murmured the kunoichi.

_At Lucy's apartment..._

"Well, it looks I've completed my mission. The vampire is dead and he shouldn't be hurting any more people." noted Naruto.

Oddly enough, he got the feeling that something big was going to happen soon. He wasn't quite sure what.

"Maybe we're going to get a new recruit? I know that we've already recruited Gajeel recently." acknowledged the genin.

Hopefully it wasn't going to be something bad. He wouldn't want another guild like Phantom Lord to launch an attack on Fairy Tail.

To think that he had been kidnapped and tortured by Phantom Lord, too.

Then again, Master Jose had been arrested and his guild had been disbanded, so hopefully he wouldn't cause any more problems.

"I guess I should get ready for tomorrow...who knows what's going to happen." said Naruto.

As he did so, he began to think of home. He was really starting to miss it.

Then again, the friends he had made in the world of magic were family to him as well.

"I'm starting to feel conflicted..." thought the boy.

He was going to miss his friends in the world of magic if he ever got back home.

Then again, there really was no place like home.

"I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." noted Naruto.

Personally he wondered if his shirt was going to get ripped off again on the way home. It sure seemed to be happening to him a lot lately.

But he decided that he could live with that. After all, he had a lot of new abilities he wanted to show to his friends on the other side.

"I bet they're going to be impressed..." noted Naruto.

Being the interdimensional partner of Lucy had its perks.

Immediately, he went to bed.

"Zzz..." murmured the genin.

_Can you guess what's going to happen in the next chapter?_

_Well, guess what! Naruto and his friends are going to get to back home! And so are Lucy and her friends..._

_Hooray!_

_You've been waiting for that, have you not? It's going to be a rather exciting episode..._

_But the story isn't going to end there...in case it's not obvious. It is going to affect the plot, I can tell you that._

_See you!_


	28. Chapter 28: Going Home

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Naruto and his friends are finally going to get home! Hooray! Of course, due to the magic of the interdimensional portal, they're not going to be quite the same..._

_Lucy and her friends are going to get home as well...though again, they're not going to be quite the same..._

**Chapter 28: Going Home**

"Hinata! Wake up!" exclaimed Happy.

"What? Why are you waking me up again?" asked Hinata.

"You're finally going to get to go back home!" bellowed the Exceed.

"What? I am? Really? You mean it?" inquired Hinata.

Sure enough, she was rather excited.

"You heard me right! This time the interdimensional portal isn't going to disappear!" exclaimed Happy.

"That's a relief..." noted the kunoichi.

Immediately, Happy escorted Hinata to the interdimensional portal.

"I'm finally going to get back home...thank goodness..." answered Hinata.

"What's this about coming back home?" asked Naruto curiously.

"We're finally going back to Konoha, Naruto!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"What?!" bellowed the genin.

All of a sudden, he began to feel rather excited.

Sure enough, Makarov was in the interdimensional portal chamber.

"We've been working on for this quite some time now! I hope you're happy, because I know I am!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

"That's my name!" answered Happy, jumping up and down.

At that very moment, Sakura entered the interdimensional chamber as well.

"I get to go back home, huh? I will admit I haven't been here as long as you two have..." noted the kunoichi.

"It's true, you haven't." nodded Hinata.

Sure enough, Kimimaro arrived on the scene as well.

"I get to go back home too, I guess...then again, I'm not sure if Konoha is going to accept me after all the things I did." noted the bone ninja.

"I'll take care of it." said Naruto.

Kimimaro let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Erza gave Naruto a hug.

"Huh?" asked the genin.

"I'm going to miss you, little guy!" exclaimed Erza.

"It's OK...we'll find a way to keep in touch." answered Naruto.

"I'm still going to miss you." said the knight.

"Yeah, me too." nodded the genin.

Immediately, he turned to his friends.

"Should we go first this time? The last time you tried to retrieve Lucy the portal closed on us..." he asked.

"It's true, it did...it was my fault though." answered Hinata.

"I'm going to miss you!" exclaimed Happy.

Immediately, he gave Hinata a hug.

"I'll miss you too." nodded the fire dragonslayer.

"Should we go look for Lucy while we're at it? She's going to want to hear this." noted Naruto.

"I'm contacting her right now, actually." explained Makarov.

Sure enough, Makarov had a pager he could use to contact people on the other side of the interdimensional portal.

Immediately, he handed some to Naruto and his friends as well.

"We'll use this to keep in touch with each other." explained the guildmaster.

"Sounds like a plan." nodded Sakura.

"Of course, I'll be sending one to Lucy and her friends too..." noted Makarov.

_Meanwhile..._

Lucy jumped in surprise. A yellow pager had suddenly appeared in her hand.

"How did that get there?" inquired the kunoichi.

Suddenly, the pager went off.

"Hmm?" asked Lucy.

"Congratulations, Lucy! You're finally going to get to go home!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

"Am I now?" asked the kunoichi.

"Yes, you are. So are your friends as well." explained Makarov.

At that very moment, Natsu and Gray approached her.

"Hey there, Lucy! We just got some pagers...I don't know why..." said the fire mage.

"Me neither, Salamander." answered the ice mage.

Oddly enough, Natsu's pager happened to be red while Gray's happened to be cyan.

"Good news, everyone. We're going to get to go home!" exclaimed Lucy.

On cue, Juvia suddenly left Gray's body.

"Are we now? Thank goodness...drip drop, drip drop." spoke the water mage.

"I guess we should head home now..." noted Lucy.

Immediately, Natsu began to search for the interdimensional portal with his Byakugan.

"There it is!" exclaimed the fire mage, pointing in its direction.

The foursome went to the interdimensional portal. Sure enough, Shikamaru was there.

"Are you finally going home? I had a feeling something big was going to happen." answered the shadow ninja.

Oddly enough, Kiba and Shino happened to be there as well, with the former being mounted on Akamaru. Apparently, they were wondering if Hinata was going to jump out of it.

"Yes, we are." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, she gave Shikamaru a hug.

"Goodbye...I'll be able to keep contact with you with my pager...let me know if you need anything." said Lucy.

"I'll miss you too." nodded Shikamaru.

Likewise, Natsu gave Kiba and Shino a hug as well.

"Thanks for helping us with our mission." spoke Kiba.

Akamaru licked Natsu in the face.

"We wouldn't have been able to pull it off with you..." noted Shino.

"Goodbye!" exclaimed Natsu.

Immediately, the foursome entered the interdimensional portal.

_A few minutes later..._

"So, these are our interdimensional partners in the flesh?" asked Naruto.

Sure enough, Lucy, Natsu, and Gray stepped out of the portal. Juvia was once again sleeping in Gray's body.

Oddly enough, Lucy was dressed in a white shirt and black shorts today.

Immediately, Lucy shook Naruto's hand and introduced herself to him, and vice versa.

"So you're the one who took my celestial spirit keys..." answered the kunoichi.

"Do you want them back?" asked Naruto.

"You probably need them more than I do...nowadays I can press my hand on the ground and summon any animal I want..." noted Lucy.

"Alright then..." answered the genin.

"By the way, I also seem to have inherited your nine-tailed fox...do you want it back? Then again considering it's a bloodthirsty monster you probably don't..." spoke the kunoichi.

Lucy immediately lifted up her shirt, revealing Naruto's former jinchuriki mark.

"I'm sorry you're bearing my former burden..." apologized Naruto.

"It's OK...I think I can keep him inside me...don't worry about it." answered Lucy.

"That's a relief. I just wanted to make sure you were OK...see you later!" exclaimed the genin.

Naruto immediately entered the interdimensional portal.

Natsu shook hands with Hinata, causing her to blush.

"Greetings! You're my interdimensional partner, are you not? My name's Natsu." asked Natsu.

"Yes! Yes, you are! My name's Hinata!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Did you inherit anything from me?" inquired the fire dragonslayer.

"Yes...I'm a fire dragonslayer now..." answered the fire kunoichi.

"Neato!" exclaimed Natsu.

"By the way, I met your foster father...he wants to see you again." spoke Hinata.

"He does? Yes! I've been looking all over for him!" cheered the fire dragonslayer.

A few moments later, Happy gave Natsu a hug.

"Natsu!" cheered Happy.

"Happy!" exclaimed Natsu.

Unsurprisingly, they were very happy to see each other again.

"Good to see you two have been reunited..." noted Hinata.

Suddenly, Happy pointed to her.

"Huh?" asked the female fire dragonslayer.

"This kind girl looked after me while you were away!" exclaimed Happy.

"Hmm? Did you really?" asked Natsu.

"Yes, I did." nodded Hinata.

"Thanks...I don't know what I would do if he got in trouble..." noted Natsu.

"Yeah...thank goodness I was there when you weren't, right?" asked the kunoichi.

"She's my other best friend!" exclaimed Happy.

"Aww, how sweet." answered Hinata.

Hinata waved farewell to Natsu as she entered the interdimensional portal.

"Gee, she's cute..." thought the fire mage.

Gray immediately shook hands with Sakura, and they both introduced themselves to each other.

"I hope you're happy. I inherited your stripping habit!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Sorry about that." apologized Gray.

Immediately, he began to take off his shirt.

"What are you doing? Stop that!" exclaimed Sakura.

"But you're taking off your shirt..." pointed out Gray.

Sakura sweatdropped as she lowered her shirt.

"Anyways, I hope you enjoy your ice powers..." answered the ice mage.

"I'll use that to freeze Naruto solid if he gets on my nerves..." said the kunoichi.

"Right, of course...of course." nodded Gray.

"Why exactly did you become a stripper anyway?" asked Sakura.

"Well..." answered the ice mage.

_"I'm ready for training!" exclaimed Gray._

_Sure enough, Gray was dressed in a pair of swim trunks...out in the middle of a blizzard._

_"Very good." answered Ur._

_Sure enough, Ur was wearing a strapless bikini._

_"My teacher is the hottest woman in the history of the world..." thought Gray._

_"Alright then...let's start with some basic ice spells, shall we?" inquired Ur._

_Immediately, she began to create a snowball._

_Likewise, Gray began to do the same._

_"Very good! Keep this up and you'll become as strong as I am in no time!" exclaimed Ur._

_Gray let out a sigh._

_"What's the matter?" asked Ur._

_"I'm starting to get worried that you're going to end up like Obi-Wan Kenobi..." questioned the ice mage._

_"It's alright...just treasure the time we have together and you'll be able to move on...though admittedly it will take a long time for you to recover..." answered Ur._

_"You are hypothetically speaking, right?" asked Gray._

_"Yes, I am." nodded the powerful ice mage._

_Gray let out a sigh of relief._

"So, your mentor made you wear swim trunks out in the middle of a blizzard?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, she did." nodded Gray.

"Fair enough. My mentor made me roll a boulder up a hill..." noted the kunoichi.

"Who is your mentor?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Just a woman by the name of Tsunade...she happens to be one of the legendary Sannin." explained Sakura.

"You're a lucky girl!" exclaimed Gray.

"Well, by the sound of it...you got to work with a powerful ice mage...so you're a lucky guy." answered the kunoichi.

"I guess I am." nodded the ice mage.

"Hey, what's that on the back of your neck?" asked Sakura curiously.

"Oh, that's Juvia...she likes to enter my body so that she can go to sleep..." explained Gray.

"OK..." answered Sakura, feeling rather disturbed.

"She lost her comrades to a ninja that rode around on a dragon...they came to the world of ninja along with her only to end up getting slain by him...it's sad." continued the ice mage.

"A dragonrider? You mean Kenichi?" inquired Sakura.

"Yes, that's the one." spoke the ice mage.

"Tsunade said that if I ever saw him I should leap away as fast as I could..." answered the ice kunoichi.

"I can see why...we were very lucky to survive our encounter with him..." noted Gray.

"You survived an encounter with him?" asked Sakura.

"Well, he only sent one of his clones after us..." explained the ice mage.

"That's a relief. I'll be seeing you then." nodded the kunoichi.

"Bye!" exclaimed Gray.

Immediately, she jumped through the interdimensional portal along with Kimimaro.

Juvia left Gray's body shortly afterwards.

"That was a good nap..." said the water mage.

"So...now that we're back home...do you want to become a member of Fairy Tail? I'm sure that Makarov will let you join after all you've been through..." noted Gray.

"Juvia would love to!" exclaimed Juvia.

"Alright then. Let's go get you a guild mark." answered the ice mage.

_A few minutes later..._

Kakashi approached Naruto a few minutes after he left the interdimensional portal.

"Hey there, sensei! I'm finally home!" exclaimed the genin.

"That's a relief..." noted Kakashi.

Suddenly, he noticed Kimimaro was standing with him.

"Isn't that the last member of the Kaguya clan?" asked the jonin curiously.

"Don't worry...he's on our side now. He won't be slaying anyone else...besides, a rather twisted sorceress removed his cursed seal..." explained Naruto.

Kimimaro nodded.

"I see. You always did have that peculiar ability to change others...wait, a sorceress?" inquired the jonin.

"It's a long story." explained the bone ninja.

"I went to the world of magic, and I got these!" exclaimed Naruto.

Immediately, he pulled out Lucy's former celestial spirit keys.

"Interesting..." noted Kakashi.

"I can use that to summon celestial spirits...a rather nice girl gave them to me...well, not voluntarily, but she was a nice girl." explained the genin.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" inquired the jonin.

"Well, when I entered the interdimensional portal, I ended up getting changed..." explained Naruto.

"Huh?" asked Kakashi.

"I inherited the celestial spirit keys of said girl...and I ended up giving up my tailed beast to her. She ended up becoming my interdimensional partner." explained the genin.

"You mean you're not a jinchuriki anymore?" inquired the jonin.

"No, I'm not." nodded Naruto.

He lifted up his shirt to reveal the lack of his jinchuriki mark.

"That explains why your whiskers have disappeared..." noted Kakashi.

"Really? They did? Weird..." acknowledged Naruto.

"Should we do something about me? I think Tsunade still thinks I'm a psychopath..." spoke Kimimaro.

Naruto stamped the Konoha mark of peace on Kimimaro's arm.

"There...now everyone will know that you come in peace." spoke the genin.

Kimimaro let out a sigh of relief.

"So, how is your interdimensional partner doing?" inquired the jonin.

"She's doing fine...she doesn't think having a nine-tailed beast in her is a big deal." answered Naruto.

"That's a relief." nodded Kakashi.

"Still, I wonder where she is now..." noted the genin.

Suddenly, Naruto's pants ripped.

"Should I get you a new pair of pants?" asked the jonin.

"That would be appreciated." nodded the genin.

_Meanwhile..._

Lucy headed back to her apartment, happy to be home once again.

"It's been a nice trip...but I think it's time for my vacation to end." thought the mage.

Immediately, she was greeted by her landlady.

"Hi there! I haven't been here for a long time, haven't I?" asked Lucy.

"Where have you been?" inquired the landlady.

"All the way back in another world...it's a long story." explained the kunoichi.

"I see." nodded Lucy's landlady.

"So, how much rent do I owe?" asked Lucy.

"That fine boy who was here earlier already paid your rent, actually..." explained the landlady.

"Oh, did he? That's a relief." answered the kunoichi.

Curious, she noticed that the door to her apartment had been repaired recently.

"Did something happen while I was gone?" asked Lucy.

"Someone tore down the door with an axe..." explained the landlady.

"Really? Why'd they do it?" inquired the summoner.

"Well, I may have insulted their mother." she explained.

"Why would you do that?" asked Lucy.

"I was having a bad day...don't worry, I'd never do to that to you. Your mother is deceased after all." answered the landlady.

"OK...thank you for your sensitivity. I'll see you later!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Immediately, the landlady left Lucy to her own devices.

"It's good to be home..." cheered the kunoichi.

She proceeded to take a bubble bath.

"Now this feels good..." said Lucy.

**"Nice rack you have here." **spoke Kurama.

Lucy's face turned red.

"Are you spying on me?!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

**"Well, I am stuck inside your body..." **noted the nine-tailed fox.

Lucy let out a sigh. Taking a bath was never going to be quite the same again.

**"Hey, I've seen Naruto naked all the time..." **explained Kurama.

"Are you saying you're-"

**"No, I am not." **answered the fox.

"OK...I'm going to take a bubble bath shoulder-deep from now on..." said Lucy.

Immediately, she submerged herself up to her shoulders.

**"Meh, I'm still enjoying this." **said Kurama.

"I guess we're both happy then." answered Lucy.

A few minutes after Lucy had finished her bubble bath (and had quickly put on her towel to protect her modesty from Kurama), she suddenly heard knocking on her door.

"Hmm? Who is it?" asked Lucy.

Immediately, she put on an orange dress with a fox on it.

As it turned out, it was none other than her father.

"Oh, it's you." said the kunoichi.

"Come back to me, Lucy! You don't know how much I've missed you!" exclaimed Lucy's father.

"I'll say! You sent Phantom Lord to kidnap me!" bellowed Lucy.

"Please! You're all that I have left of your mother!" shouted the man.

"That's where all the problems began." noted the kunoichi.

"C'mon! Duke Sawarr Junelle is waiting for you!" exclaimed Jude Heartfilia.

"See?! That's why I left! You arranged me to be married to someone who was a gold digger and a pervert!" bellowed Lucy.

"A pervert?" asked Lucy's father.

"He spied me while I was in the shower!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

**"Deja vu." **murmured Kurama.

"Please! You've got to come back for me! I'm broke now! I spent the family fortune on alcoholic beverages!" bellowed Jude Heartfilia.

"So, you're an alcoholic now?" asked Lucy.

"I...guess..." nodded Lucy's father.

"I have to question the safety of living with you then." answered the kunoichi.

"C'mon! Can't you do this for me? I'm the one who helped bring you into this world! Your mother would want this!" asked Jude.

"Somehow, I'm not quite so sure. And just between you and me, I've already found someone else." spoke Lucy, thinking about Shikamaru.

"Fine! You won't have to marry Sawarr! Now come back to me!" exclaimed Lucy's father.

Lucy sighed. She was going to have to find a way to prevent her father from taking her back. Inevitably, he was going to summon another guild to capture her if she continued to refuse.

She was going to have to come up with a plan.

Suddenly, she remembered that she was Naruto's interdimensional partner and that she had his abilities to go with it, and she got an idea.

"Alright, fine. You win. But before you take me in, there's a few things that you should note. Thanks to the interdimensional portal I used, I happen to be a bit...different." answered Lucy.

"What do you mean?" asked Jude.

Suddenly, Lucy created some shadow clones of herself.

"What the-" exclaimed Lucy's father.

"If you take me back in, you're going to have a lot of mouths to feed, I can tell you that. You're going to have to feed every single one of them." answered Lucy.

Immediately, the shadow clones' stomachs began to grumble.

"We want food! We want food!" exclaimed the clones.

Jude began to feel rather nervous.

Shortly afterwards, Lucy ripped off her dress to reveal her pink tube top and shorts.

On her stomach was her jinchuriki mark.

"Of course, that's small potatoes to what I have living inside me now." answered the kunoichi.

"What?!" exclaimed Jude.

"You see, I happen to have a giant nine-tailed fox inside my stomach...if you don't treat me well, he's going to come out. And if he does, he's going to destroy everything you hold dear." explained Lucy.

Kurama began to laugh evilly.

Jude's skin turned pale.

"Lastly...well, I can't seem to think of a third thing to tell you..." said Lucy.

Suddenly, she felt the urge to try shapeshifting.

"Hmm? Is this one of Naruto's abilities?" thought the kunoichi.

Shrugging, she pressed her hands together to transform.

As it turned out, Lucy had just learned Naruto's Sexy Jutsu.

"There we are! Lastly..well, I can do this." explained the kunoichi.

Immediately, Jude Heartfilia began to scream.

Shortly afterwards, he passed out.

Lucy transformed back to normal shortly afterwards.

"Father? Father?" asked Lucy, waving her hand across her father's face.

As it turned out, he had been knocked out cold.

"Well, that seemed to have done the trick." answered the kunoichi.

**"Thank goodness." **spoke the nine-tailed fox.

Immediately, Lucy began to summon a swarm of carrier pigeons.

She then showed them where they could find her father's house.

The carrier pigeons then took Jude Heartfilia away.

**"Is he gone?" **asked Kurama.

"Yes, I think so." nodded Lucy.

**"Thank goodness!" **exclaimed the nine-tailed fox.

"We're actually agreeing on something again..." noted Lucy.

**"How very odd." **answered Kurama.

"I have to admit, I'm starting to feel a bit guilty about this though...I couldn't help but shake the feeling that my father loves me deep down inside of him..." spoke the kunoichi.

**"You're probably better off without him." **answered Kurama.

"You're probably right...on the plus side, I think I'll finally be able to flirt with men effectively now..." noted Lucy.

**"Will you now?" **asked Kurama.

"Yes, I will. That Sexy Jutsu's going to work wonders." said the kunoichi.

**"It sure will." **nodded the nine-tailed fox.

"Well, back to my guild I go. They've most likely missed me." answered Lucy.

_Meanwhile..._

"Father, I'm home!" exclaimed Hinata, knocking on the door to her house.

Hiashi Hyuga answered the door, and immediately gave his daughter a hug.

"There you are! Do you have any idea how much I missed you?!" exclaimed Hiashi.

"I missed you too, father." nodded Hinata.

"When I heard that you got sucked into an interdimensional portal, I was worried for your safety!" bellowed the man.

"I bet you were." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, Neji gave Hinata a hug as well. Apparently, he had noticed what was going on.

Even her little sister gave her a hug.

"You're starting to crush me..." said Hinata.

The trio decided it was best to try hugging her one at a time.

"Where have you been?" asked Hanabi.

"I got stranded all the way in another world...the world of magic to be precise." answered the kunoichi.

"The world of magic?" inquired Neji.

"Yes, that was the place...mind you, I'm not quite the same anymore after the incident..." noted Hinata.

"You aren't?" asked Hanabi.

"No, I am not...you'll find out in due time. But for now I want to get some rest..." said Hinata.

"We were about to bake you a cake, actually." explained Hiashi Hyuga.

"What? You were?" asked the kunoichi.

"We want to celebrate your return!" exclaimed Hinata's father.

"Oh, right...of course." nodded Hinata.

_Fifteen minutes later..._

"So, is the cake ready?" asked the fire dragonslayer.

"It sure is!" exclaimed Hiashi.

Sure enough, it was her favorite flavor...vanilla.

"What a delicious looking cake..." thought Hinata.

Suddenly, she noticed that the candles were unlit.

Immediately, Hiashi realized that he had a problem.

"Oh no! We forgot about the candles! Quickly, someone get a lighter!" exclaimed Hinata's father.

"Where is the lighter, anyway?" questioned Hinata.

Suddenly, she remembered something.

"Oh, that's right...I don't need one of these anymore..." thought the kunoichi.

"Don't worry! I'll take care of it!" exclaimed Hinata.

Setting her fingers on fire, she lit up the candles one by one.

"There! Crisis solved!" bellowed the kunoichi.

"How did you do that?" asked Hiashi.

Suddenly, he remembered about Hinata telling him that she wasn't quite the same after using that interdimensional portal.

"Er, did you somehow master a fire jutsu while you were gone?" inquired Hinata's father.

"Something like that." answered Hinata.

Immediately, Neji and Hanabi entered the dining room.

"Is the cake ready?" asked Neji.

"I can't wait!" exclaimed Hanabi.

Hinata began to wonder what she should wish for. Granted, the cake said "Welcome Back" rather than "Happy Birthday", but she felt that she should wish for something regardless.

"I wish I could see Natsu again, I suppose. He's really hot...in more ways than one." thought Hinata.

She then blew out the candles.

"Well, I guess we're done here." said Hiashi as he pulled out the candles. "Let's eat!"

Suddenly, Hinata swallowed the cake whole, causing her family members to gasp in surprise.

"Sorry! My enormous appetite flared up again!" exclaimed Hinata, wiping the frosting off her face.

"What?!" bellowed Neji.

"I've had a pretty big appetite since I used that interdimensional portal..." answered the kunoichi.

"You swallowed the cake whole!" bellowed Hiashi.

"I'm not quite sure how I did that myself." answered the kunoichi.

"I'm scared..." said Hanabi.

"Well, I guess you can run along now, I suppose. I bet your friends are waiting for your return." noted Hiashi.

"Right! I better go see Kiba and Shino! They must be worried about me!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, she leapt her way out of the house.

_A few minutes later.._

"Kiba! Shino!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Hinata! You're back!" bellowed Kiba.

"Good to see you again." said Shino.

"Good to see you too." nodded the fire dragonslayer.

"So...how was your stay in the world of magic?" inquired the bug user.

"Pretty good. I even became a mage!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Really? That's neat." nodded Kiba.

"Arf!" exclaimed Akamaru.

"I'm finally home now...it feels so good to be back after so long." noted the kunoichi.

Then again, she had enjoyed her time at the world of magic as well.

"So...you mentioned something about being a mage...was there a particular type of magic you obtained?" inquired Shino.

"Well, you see..."

Hinata was suddenly interrupted by some rustling in the bushes.

"Do you hear something?" asked Kiba.

Suddenly, Takeshi jumped out of the bushes.

"Huh?" inquired Shino.

"I'm going to kill you!" screeched the psychopath.

"This can't be good." spoke Kiba.

Akamaru began to whimper.

Immediately, Takeshi pulled out a flamethrower.

"It's BBQ time!" bellowed the pyromaniac.

He turned on the flamethrower and began to swing it towards the trio.

"Run for it!" screamed Kiba.

"Don't let him roast my bugs!" warned Shino.

Unfortunately for the trio, Takeshi was rather quick.

"What a maniac...he wants to burn us all alive with his flamethrower..." thought Hinata. "Wait...a flamethrower..."

Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Everyone, stay behind me!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"What are you doing?" asked Kiba.

"Are you sure about this, Hinata?" inquired Shino.

"I know what I'm doing! Trust me on this!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Alright then." nodded Kiba.

Immediately, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino hid behind Hinata.

"Hahaha! You've got nowhere to hide or run! Burn baby burn!" exclaimed Takeshi.

Takeshi set the flamethrower to full power, and an enormous stream of fire came out of the fiery weapon.

He began to laugh maniacally as the trio were covered with flames.

In the process, he left behind a cloud of smoke.

"Hahaha! I did it! I killed them! I am so evil!" exclaimed Takeshi.

However, when the smoke cleared...he immediately gasped in shock.

They had been completely unharmed!

"Wow...being a fire dragonslayer really has its perks." noted Hinata.

"How did you survive?!" exclaimed Takeshi.

Shortly afterwards, Hinata took the flamethrower from his hands.

"I don't think you'll be able to use this without any fuel, so..." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, she turned the flamethrower on and began to consume the flames.

In just a few minutes, the flamethrower ran out of fuel, and it was now useless to Takeshi.

She then hit him on the head with it, and knocked him out cold.

"Phew...hopefully he won't be bothering us for a while..." answered Hinata.

"How did you do that, Hinata?!" exclaimed Kiba.

"I'm impressed." said Shino.

"About my field of magic...you see, I happen to be a fire dragonslayer now..." explained the kunoichi.

"A fire dragonslayer?" asked Kiba.

"Yes, not only can I control fire, but I'm virtually fireproof...also, I can eat fire too." explained Hinata.

"Does this have anything to do with Natsu? I believe he was able to use the Byakugan like you could...and was pyrokinetic..." asked Shino curiously.

"I became a fire dragonslayer because of him, actually. I used the interdimensional portal at about the same time he did and we inherited each other's abilities." answered Hinata.

"That's really neat...I'm starting to want to use the interdimensional portal myself..." noted Kiba.

"Arf!" exclaimed Akamaru.

"Mind you, it wasn't all good. I also happened to inherit his motion sickness...I'm afraid I won't be able to ride roller coasters with you two from now on." answered Hinata.

"That's too bad." answered Kiba.

"I never really liked riding them, anyway, to be honest. I'd rather have some peace and quiet." shrugged Shino.

At that very moment, Kurenai approached them.

"There you are! I was worried about you! I heard that there was a serial killer on the loose! I wanted to see if were OK..." said the jonin.

"The serial killer? I think we already took him out." said Kiba.

"Really? That's a relief..." answered Kurenai.

"We wouldn't have survived if it weren't for Hinata, though..." spoke Shino.

"Hinata?!" exclaimed the jonin.

"Good to see you again, sensei!" bellowed the fire dragonslayer.

Kurenai immediately gave Hinata a hug.

"I missed you too..." said the kunoichi.

"So, you saved their lives?" asked Kurenai.

"Yes, I did...to be honest, it was actually pretty easy. He used the worst possible weapon against me...a flamethrower." answered Hinata.

"Why was that so ineffective?" inquired the jonin.

"Well, thanks to the interdimensional portal I used to look for Naruto...I happen to be completely fireproof now. Not only that, I was able to eat the flames until he ran out of fuel." explained the kunoichi.

"That's amazing!" exclaimed the genjutsu specialist.

"We know! We saw it for ourselves!" bellowed Kiba.

"Ruff!" shouted Akamaru.

"I was going to get you a hazmat suit so that we could go firefighting sometime...but I guess you won't need it..." noted Kurenai.

"Yeah, she won't." nodded Shino.

"So, what should we do about him?" asked Kiba.

"Let's take him back to Tsunade's slave camp." explained Hinata.

_A few minutes later..._

"How exactly did he escape from the camp?" questioned Tsunade as she reshackled Takeshi's arms and legs.

One of the guards suddenly began to whistle.

"No matter...I'm going to keep a closer eye on him this time." noted the Sannin.

"I'm going to kill you!" exclaimed Takeshi.

"Of course you will, of course you will." answered Tsunade.

At that very moment, Sakura approached her.

"Ah, Sakura! You're back! So...how was your trip?" asked the Sannin.

"Pretty good...unfortunately, I became a stripper..." said Sakura.

"You became a stripper?" inquired Tsunade.

"Yes...I'm feeling the urge to take my clothes off as we speak..." answered the kunoichi.

"Why did you become a stripper?" asked the Sannin.

"I became the interdimensional partner of one." explained Sakura.

"I see..." nodded Tsunade.

"On the plus side, I inherited his ice magic..." spoke the kunoichi.

Immediately, she began to form a snowball in her hands.

"Right...freeze Takeshi in case he tries to escape again, will you? He's been getting pretty aggressive." asked Tsunade.

"I'm going to kill you...and your apprentice too!" screamed Takeshi.

Sakura punched Takeshi in the nose.

"My nose! My precious nose!" screamed the psychopath as his nose began to bleed.

"I broke it, didn't I?" asked the kunoichi.

"Well, he deserved it." answered Tsunade.

"If you need me I'm going to be practicing my ice abilities..." said Sakura.

"Don't forget your shirt!" exclaimed the Sannin.

"Thank goodness I'm wearing this sarashi underneath my shirt..." noted the kunoichi as she put her shirt back on.

On the way there, she happened to see Kimimaro.

"Oh, hey there! How are you doing?" asked Sakura.

"Pretty good...the Konoha citizens are starting to accept me..." answered the bone ninja.

"That's a relief...I was starting to wonder if they were going to treat you an outcast just like they treated Naruto." noted the kunochi.

"Well, some of them are. But other than that I think things are going fine." spoke Kimimaro.

"Say, what happened to your teammates? I believe that you were part of the Sound Four...or Sound Five, were you not?" asked Sakura.

"I'm afraid they've all been wiped out." answered the bone ninja.

"Really? Who did this to them?" inquired the kunoichi.

"The worst person I have ever met." spoke Kimimaro.

"Who was it?" asked Sakura.

"It was a woman by the name of Chiyoye...she slaughtered an entire town just so that she could make herself powerful..." answered the bone ninja.

"What?!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"She also drained me of my cursed seal..." spoke Kimimaro.

"Well, admittedly, that has made you a lot less violent..." answered Sakura.

"Yes...but it has also made her much more powerful. I'm starting to feel rather worried...I wonder if I should go back to the world of magic to try to stop her..." noted the bone ninja.

"Need any help? I could try heading back there too..." spoke the kunoichi.

"Well, I don't think I'll be able to defeat her alone...I was lucky to have survived my encounter with her..." said Kimimaro.

"I bet you were." nodded Sakura.

"I have to wonder where she is now though...I bet she's slaughtering more people as we speak..." answered the bone ninja.

"That sounds pretty bad." agreed the medical ninja.

_Meanwhile..._

Chiyoye happily walked her way towards Mana City. After slaughtering an entire town, she decided she needed to move on to something bigger.

After all, simply draining the life from another town would be a bit too easy.

Unlike Elm Town, this particular city happened to be guarded.

Sure enough, two mages were standing in front of the city to make sure that no criminals made their way inside.

"Halt!" bellowed the first mage.

"Who goes there!" exclaimed the second mage.

Immediately, Chiyoye zapped them with lightning, causing them to jump out of the way.

In retaliation, they began to shoot blasts of magical energy at her.

Curious, she decided that it was time to test our her new cursed seal.

Her hair turned white as well as her skin, causing the two mages to gasp in shock.

"What-what is she?!" bellowed the first mage.

Unfortunately for the mages, the cursed seal greatly increased her speed as well as her strength.

She immediately leapt towards the two mages, and began to drain the life out of them, causing them to scream in pain as they perished.

She turned back to normal shortly afterwards.

"Well, so much for the guards." answered the mage.

She began to flashback to the days where she first realized that she was a wizard.

_Chiyoye's mother and Chiyoye's father heard knocking on their door._

_Immediately, Chiyoye's mother opened the door._

_Much to their surprise, their special guest happened to be a wizard._

_Sure enough, he happened to be wearing a wizard's hat. He was dressed in light purple robes and had a very long beard._

_"Greetings. My name is Professor Fumbledore. I'm here to talk to you about your child." explained the sorcerer._

_"Hmm? Is something wrong with her?" asked Chiyoye's mother._

_"No no no. Nothing like that. She just happens to be a wizard, that's all." answered the man._

_Curious, Chiyoye's father approached his wife to see what was happening._

_"Is there anything you want from her?" asked Chiyoye's mother._

_"Nothing much. I just want to see what her magic speciality is, that's all. Almost every wizard has one. I happen to specialize in life magic, myself." answered Professor Fumbledore._

_"I see..." nodded Chiyoye's father._

_"I'll give her back to you in a few days." explained the professor._

_Chiyoye's parents nodded, and they came back with their daughter a few minutes later._

_"Be safe now!" exclaimed Chiyoye's mother._

_To be honest, they had always felt that there was something special about their daughter...though they weren't quite sure what until now._

_As they did so, they failed to notice a wide smile creeping across Chiyoye's face._

"If he had known I was a serial killer even in my youth...he might have been more hesistant to take me in." thought Chiyoye.

Immediately, she entered the city, ready to look for some victims.

She had been feeling very powerful lately.

And yet, she still wanted more.

She would not rest until she became the most powerful mage there was.

Maybe she should try seeking omnipotence. Granted, that was most likely a dream rather than a reality, but she would love ascending into godhood.

"Where should I start looking?" asked Chiyoye.

_We now return to Sakura and Kimimaro._

"I hope that we can stop her..." said Sakura.

"The sooner someone stops her, the better. The more people she kills, the stronger she gets." explained Kimimaro.

"That sure sounds like the case..." nodded the kunoichi.

"Mind you, if someone fails to stop her, they don't just fail in their mission, they help Chiyoye with hers." answered Kimimaro.

"I see..." spoke Sakura.

"If you ever see her...don't let her touch you. If you do that, she's going to drain the life out of you...and you're going to die a horrible death." spoke the bone ninja.

Sakura began to shudder. Was one touch all it took for Chiyoye to kill her victims?

By the looks of it, that was the case.

Personally she was tempted to stay in her world and not go out and try to stop Chiyoye.

Then again, considering that there was a dragonrider on the loose killing everyone in sight in her world, she wondered if she was any safer here.

For now, she decided that she needed to work on her ice abilities. There sure seemed to be a lot that she could with it.

As for Kimimaro, he decided that he wanted to go train as well.

Alternatively, he could try going on a mission. There were a lot of them that he could handle.

"I could probably even go on a S-Rank Mission..." noted the former member of the Sound Five.

Then again, he had recovered from a terminal illness not too long ago, and wondered how far he should strain himself.

"I guess I'll settle for an A-Rank Mission..." said Kimimaro.

Those sure seemed to pay well.

_Meanwhile..._

On the way back from her visit to her friends (as well as a surprise visit from her sensei), Hinata suddenly remembered something.

"Uh-oh! I left my ninja outfit back at the world of magic!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, she realized that she was going to have to dive through the interdimensional portal in order to get it back.

"Back to the interdimensional portal I go." said the kunoichi.

Immediately, she entered the interdimensional portal to go search for her ninja uniform.

"Back so soon?" inquired Makarov.

"I need to get my ninja outfit!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Do you know where you left it?" asked the guildmaster.

"I think I left it in a locker somewhere." said the kunoichi.

"You did?" asked Makarov.

"Yes...I need to get it back." spoke Hinata.

"Alright then..." nodded the guildmaster.

Immediately, she began to search for her ninja outfit.

However, much to her surprise, it wasn't there.

"Oh man...where could it have gone?" asked Hinata.

At that very moment, Erza approached her.

"Can you help me? I'm looking for my ninja outfit...I left it in a locker here...I need to get it back!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Didn't you take it off because you were sweaty?" asked Erza.

"Well yeah...but I was a mage rather than a ninja here..." noted the kunoichi.

"About that...you see, Natsu already took that outfit a few minutes ago..." answered the knight.

"He did?" asked Hinata.

"Yeah...he said that he wanted to have it since he was a ninja now...he always loved pretending to be a ninja when he was a kid..." noted Erza.

"That's cute...though admittedly not very helpful towards me." acknowledged the kunoichi.

"You should know where he lives, since you spent your time at his house during his absence." explained the knight.

"Right, of course!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, she went to go see Natsu.

As she did so, Erza suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, that's right...I could have used my Requip magic to give her another ninja uniform...why did I forget that?" she thought.

_A few minutes later, at Natsu's house..._

"Don't I look great in this outfit, Happy? I'm the best ninja ever!" exclaimed Natsu.

"You sure are!" nodded Happy.

"Oddly enough this outfit reminds me of someone I just met...though I can't quite put my finger on it." explained the fire mage.

"Who could it possibly be?" inquired the Exceed.

"Well, I'm sure I'll find out eventually. I'm going to go take a shower so that I can stay clean." answered Natsu.

"Have fun!" exclaimed Happy.

Immediately, Natsu went to the bathroom and turned the shower on.

Shortly afterwards, Happy began to hear knocking on Natsu's door.

"Huh?" asked the Exceed.

Curious, Happy opened the door, and gasped in surprise.

It was none other than Hinata.

"Hinata! You came back!" exclaimed the Exceed.

Immediately, he gave Hinata a hug.

"It's nice to see you again too, Happy. I'm only here to get my ninja outfit back though..." spoke Hinata.

"Oh, you are?" asked Happy.

"Yeah...unfortunately, Natsu took it without realizing who it belonged to..." explained Hinata.

"Oh, did he now?" inquired the Exceed.

"Yeah...I need to get it back." explained the fire dragonslayer.

"OK, I'll go get him!" exclaimed Happy.

Immediately, Happy began to knock on the bathroom door.

"Huh? Do you need to go, Happy?" asked Natsu.

"There's someone here to see you!" exclaimed Happy.

"Oh, alright then." nodded the fire mage.

Immediately, he turned the shower off and wrapped a towel around his waist.

He then went to see Hinata a few minutes later.

"Ah! Good to see you again, Hinata! Is there anything I can help you with?" asked Natsu.

Hinata began to blush upon seeing Natsu wearing nothing but a towel.

"Oh, that...you see, you took my ninja outfit...I was wondering if I could have it back." answered Hinata.

"Huh? Sorry about that!" apologized Natsu.

"It's OK, you didn't know..." spoke the kunoichi.

"I'll go get it for you. Just wait one min-"

Suddenly, Natsu fell on top of Hinata, causing her face to turn red.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Whoops!" bellowed Natsu.

At that very moment, Happy came by and noticed what had happened. Or at least...what he thought had happened.

"Natsu's got a girlfriend!" exclaimed the Exceed.

Immediately, he began to take pictures of the incident using a conveniently-located camera.

"Fairy Tail is going to soak this up." said Happy as he left through a window.

"So sorry. Hold on." answered Natsu as he removed himself from Hinata.

A few minutes later, he handed Hinata the ninja uniform.

"Thank you. If you want I could go get you a uniform of your own." answered the kunoichi.

"Really? You mean it?" asked Natsu.

"They're pretty commonplace where I come from, so yes." nodded Hinata.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"I'll go get you one. I'll be back soon." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, she began to leap away.

As Hinata did so, they both began to wonder the same question.

"Why did that incident feel like the best moment of my life?" they both thought.

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter! In the next chapter, there's going to be some more Fairy Tail shenanigans. Heh heh._

_See you!_


	29. Chapter 29: The Gypsy's Curse

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...Fairy Tail's going to suffer from a gypsy's curse! Oh, and there's going to be two more interdimensional partners..._

_Can you guess who they're going to be this time? They've appeared quite a few times in this story so far._

_I'll give you a hint, they're both leaders of their respective teams..._

**Chapter 29: The Gypsy's Curse**

Shikamaru stood outside the interdimensional portal, sighing. Already he was starting to miss Lucy.

"It just isn't the same..." thought the shadow ninja.

Curious, he wondered if he should jump into the interdimensional portal and go look for her. Besides, he was curious to what was on the other side.

"Then again, my teammates will probably wonder where I've gone..." he thought.

Immediately, he began to think of what to do.

Finally, he came to a decision.

"I guess I'll go through the interdimensional portal for a bit and then come back...that way nobody will notice I'm gone..." answered Shikamaru.

Immediately, he jumped through the portal.

However, unbeknownst to him, someone else wanted to do the same thing.

"I'll be gone for just a few minutes." Levy thought.

Not noticing Shikamaru, she jumped through the portal as well.

"Well, isn't this place rather interesting..." noted the shadow ninja.

Looking around, he discovered that he was in the Fairy Tail guild hall.

Of course, he was in their interdimensional portal chamber.

Shrugging, he decided to go look around.

Immediately, he noticed a book on the table that Levy had left behind in her curiousity to explore the world of ninja.

"What's this?" asked Shikamaru.

The book in question was Alice In Wonderland.

"I might have found another hobby that actually doesn't require energy..." noted the shadow ninja.

Shrugging, he sat down and began to read.

"Alice, why did you have to be so clumsy? I don't think I would end up falling through a rabbit hole like that..." noted Shikamaru.

Suddenly, he fell out of the chair.

"Then again, maybe I'm wrong." thought the shadow ninja as he helped himself to his feet.

_Meanwhile..._

"Hey there, Salamander!" exclaimed Mirajane.

"Hey there, Mirajane!" answered Natsu.

"Is is true that you have a girlfriend now?" asked the S-Class Mage.

"Huh?" asked the fire mage.

"Happy just handed us some pictures of you and your new special one..." said Mirajane.

"What are you talking about?" inquired Natsu.

Immediately, Mirajane handed Natsu one of the pictures Happy had taken.

"What the-" exclaimed the fire mage.

As it turned out, Happy had taken pictures of him and Hinata after he had fallen on top of her.

"Oh...darn it, Happy!" bellowed Natsu.

At that very moment, Hinata approached Natsu.

"Here's your ninja outfit!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Thanks...but we have a problem now." answered the fire mage.

"Huh?" asked Hinata.

Immediately, Natsu handed Hinata the pictures, causing her to blush.

"What's going on?" asked the kunoichi.

"Everyone thinks that we're a couple now..." answered the fire mage.

"But we're not...at least not yet." spoke Hinata.

"We're going to have to explain that to everyone in Fairy Tail..." answered Natsu.

"Oh boy..." spoke the kunoichi.

"Where should we start?" asked Natsu.

"I guess we could start with Gray...he seems to be soaking this up." noted the female dragonslayer.

"Darn it! Why can't I have a girlfriend?!" exclaimed Gray.

"Yoohoo! Over here!" bellowed Juvia, waving at Gray.

"Yes, Juvia?" asked the ice mage.

Suddenly, Natsu and Hinata approached him.

"Hey there, lovebirds! How are you doing? You're really lucky, flamethrower boy." answered Gray.

"Flamethrower boy?!" exclaimed Natsu.

Immediately, he decided to call Gray "Frosty The Snowstripper" in retaliation...

...only for Hinata to beat him to the punch.

"Don't talk to him like that! He never did anything to you!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Um, thanks?" asked Natsu curiously.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just jealous...I've been trying to get a girlfriend for years, and you got one so suddenly." noted Gray.

"Hey! Over here, Gray! Hello?" exclaimed Juvia.

Unfortunately, Gray did not hear her, causing her to frown.

"About that...we're not actually a couple..." answered Natsu.

"What? You're not?" asked the ice mage.

"It was an accident..." explained Hinata.

"Oh...that explains the surprised look on your faces..." noted Gray.

"Yeah...I was a bit clumsy today." spoke Natsu.

"Alright then, I'll go spread the word." said the ice mage.

"Thanks..." answered Hinata.

"If you need me I'm going to dress up as a ninja!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"See you!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Shortly afterwards, she decided to head back home again.

"Back to Konoha I go." said Hinata as she entered the interdimensional portal.

"Where is Happy, anyway? I heard that he went to see a fortuneteller not too long ago...he said that he wanted to see if he really had nine lives...and if he was going to lose any of them anytime soon." thought Natsu.

_Meanwhile..._

"Hello? Are you the fortuneteller?" asked Happy as he entered the tent.

"Greetings..." said the fortuneteller.

As it turned out, this fortune teller was very old. She had wrinkles on her skin.

"Are you some sort of gypsy?" inquired the Exceed.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" asked the gypsy.

"Just wondering...anyways, can you help me with something?" asked Happy curiously.

"Yes...you want your fortune told, do you not?" inquired the fortuneteller.

"Yes, I do." nodded the Exceed.

"Very well." answered the gypsy.

Immediately, she began to use magic to determine Happy's fortune.

"So, what do you see?" asked Happy.

"I see an enormous tower...at an island across the sea..." explained the gypsy.

"What? You do?" asked the Exceed.

"Yes, I do...I also see a cat lover in your future as well." continued the fortuneteller.

"Talk about foreshadowing. Anything else?" asked Happy.

"That's about it. I can't predict everything." explained the gypsy.

"Fair enough." answered the Exceed.

Curious, he began to look at the crystal ball.

"This is very interesting..." said Happy.

"Hey, be careful with that!" warned the gypsy.

Unfortunately, Happy wasn't, and the crystal ball shattered into pieces.

"Whoops!" bellowed the Exceed.

"How dare you!" exclaimed the fortuneteller.

"Sorry!" apologized Happy.

"For your insolence, I'm casting a curse on you!" bellowed the gypsy.

"A curse? Hmm, my guildmates aren't going to be too happy to hear that..." noted the Exceed.

"I'm casting the curse on them too! You must suffer for your actions!" exclaimed the fortuneteller.

"This is bad." noted Happy.

Immediately, the gypsy cast the spell on the Exceed.

"So...what does the curse do?" asked the cat.

"Well, it depends on person to person. But I designed the curse to be ironic...because I love irony. You'll all receive pamphlets explaining what curse you've been hit by and what they do." answered the gypsy.

"Please! Can't we talk about this?" inquired Happy.

"Relax! The curse isn't going to last forever! I'm not that cruel!" exclaimed the fortuneteller.

"Thank goodness...how long is the curse going to be, then?" asked the Exceed.

"About twenty-four hours." explained the old woman.

Happy sighed.

"I guess I'm going to have to tell my guildmates the bad news..." said the cat.

Immediately, he went to go alert his guildmates about what the gypsy had seen...and warn them about the curse.

"They're going to be pretty mad at me..." he thought.

_A few minutes later..._

Happy knocked on the door to Makarov's office.

Happy to have a guest, he allowed Happy right in.

He let out a sigh as he entered.

"Hey there, Happy! How did your visit to the fortuneteller go?" asked the guildmaster.

"Not so good. I got cursed, and so did my guildmates..." answered Happy.

"What?!" exclaimed Makarov.

"I accidentally broke her crystal ball and she got mad...now we're all going to suffer for it." said the Exceed.

Makarov sighed.

Immediately, he decided to alert Naruto Uzumaki. This concerned him and his friends.

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

"Hello there, Naruto. I'm afraid that you've been affected by a curse." explained Makarov.

"A curse?" inquired the former jinchuriki.

"It's also affected your friends Hinata and Sakura, I believe. They do have the guild mark..." answered the guildmaster.

Naruto sighed. It looked like this concerned his two friends too.

Immediately, he went to go get them.

"What's going on, Naruto?" asked Hinata.

"We've been cursed." said Naruto.

"What?!" exclaimed Sakura.

"I think he'll explain more if we go visit him." spoke the genin.

Shrugging, Hinata and Sakura followed Naruto through the interdimensional portal.

However, on their way there, they encountered someone familiar.

"Levy? Is that you?" asked the genin curiously.

As it turned out, she had dozed off.

"Wake up!" exclaimed Naruto.

Suddenly, Levy woke up.

"Huh? I must have fallen asleep...I wonder why?" questioned the letter mage.

"I don't know...anyways, you need to head back to your guild. We've got a bad situation on our hands." answered Naruto.

"Oh...OK then." nodded Levy.

As she headed through the interdimensional portal, she began to yawn.

"Since when was she so sleepy?" asked Hinata.

"I don't know..." answered Sakura.

Shrugging, Naruto and his friends entered the interdimensional portal.

Much to their surprise, they found Shikamaru there.

"Hey there, Shikamaru!" exclaimed the genin.

"Is this a friend of yours?" asked Levy.

"Yes." nodded Hinata.

Sure enough, Shikamaru was reading Alice In Wonderland.

"Funny, he's reading my favorite book..." said the letter mage.

"Is he now?" asked Hinata.

Shikamaru put down the book, and suddenly noticed Naruto and his friends.

"Hey there, Naruto. Did you three come looking for me? I don't think I was gone for long..." answered the shadow ninja.

"We're here for a meeting...something bad has happened and Makarov wants to explain it to us." said the genin.

"OK then. I guess I'll be heading back home then." spoke Shikamaru.

Suddenly, Hinata gasped in surprise. Shikamaru had the Fairy Tail guild mark on his left shoulder!

"What?" asked the shadow ninja.

"I think you've become someone's interdimensional partner!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I have? Who is it?" asked Shikamaru.

"I don't know..." answered Hinata.

"Well, you can have your book back now." answered the shadow ninja.

"Thanks." spoke Levy.

Suddenly, much to her surprise, her shadow began to move.

"What the-" said the letter mage.

Immediately, her shadow picked up the book and handed it to Levy.

"Why has my shadow come to life?" asked the mage.

"I think I know who your interdimensional partner is, Shikamaru! It's Levy!" exclaimed Naruto.

"It is? Um, pleased to meet you." said Shikamaru.

"That explains why you've become so sleepy..." noted Hinata as she looked at Levy.

"And why you were reading her favorite book..." continued Sakura as she looked at Shikamaru.

"What does this mean?" asked Levy.

"Well, you should be able to use his shadow jutsu now...likewise, Shikamaru should be able to your script magic..." explained Hinata.

Curious, Shikamaru tried writing down the word fire.

Immediately, he ended up starting one.

"Oh boy." said the shadow ninja.

Thankfully, Hinata was able to swallow the fire.

"Be careful with your new gift, will you?" asked the kunoichi.

"Um, sure." answered Shikamaru.

Suddenly, Sakura realized what this meant for Shikamaru.

"I think you're going to want to attend the meeting, too...you're a member of Fairy Tail now..." noted the kunoichi.

"I am?" asked Shikamaru.

"Well, you have the guild mark." spoke Naruto.

"Oh, right..." answered the shadow ninja.

Immediately, he went to the meeting along with Makarov.

Much to Shikamaru's surprise, he found Lucy to be there.

"Shikamaru? Is that you?" asked Lucy.

"Yes, I became a member of Fairy Tail...by accident." explained the shadow ninja.

"You did?" inquired the summoner mage.

"Yes, I did." nodded Shikamaru.

Immediately, Shikamaru showed her the guild mark on his left shoulder blade.

"Did you become someone's interdimensional partner? I think I've seen that guild mark somewhere..." noted Lucy.

"I believe it was Levy McGarden." explained the shadow ninja.

"How ironic...she's my best friend in the world." said the kunoichi.

"I see..." nodded Shikamaru.

"Let's be quiet now, shall we? Makarov has something important to tell us." spoke Lucy.

Makarov immediately stood in front of the Fairy Tail audience. He had a frown on his face.

"I'm afraid that I've got very bad news for you all...we've been hit by a gypsy's curse!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

"What?!" bellowed Fairy Tail in unison.

"In just a few moments now...we're going to be facing her wrath!" bellowed Makarov.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Fairy Tail in unison.

"Why did she curse us?" asked Gray.

"I broke her crystal ball..." explained Happy.

"You what?!" bellowed Natsu.

"I'm sorry!" apologized the Exceed.

"Here it comes now! I can feel it!" exclaimed Makarov.

Suddenly, a pamphlet appeared in Erza's hands.

She let out a sigh.

"I guess I'm the first one..." said the knight.

Curious, she read the pamphlet to see what the curse entailed.

"I've been hit by the Youth Curse...I'm sick of your guild and your foul tricks, so have fun being six." read Erza out loud.

Suddenly, the curse began to take effect. Erza became younger and younger.

When the curse was fully activated, Erza was now six years old.

"Well, I guess I'm reliving my life." said the six-year-old girl.

"Aren't you a cutie pie!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Um...thanks, I guess." answered Erza.

A few seconds later, a pamphlet appeared in Naruto's hand.

"Am I going to turn into a little boy?" asked the genin.

However, as he discovered, he had been hit by the Gender Bender curse instead.

"You and your guild make me hurl...so I'm going to turn you into a girl." read Naruto.

Suddenly, he transformed into a girl.

"Man, this is going to be so awkward when I need to use the restroom! Then again my voice actor was a woman to begin with." noted the genin.

"I bet it will. Should we call you Naruko for the time being?" nodded Erza.

"I guess." answered Naruko.

A pamphlet appeared in Hinata's hands next.

"What curse do I have?" asked the kunoichi.

As she discovered, she had been hit with the Fanservice Curse.

"The Fanservice Curse?" inquired Hinata.

Curious, she began to read out loud.

"You and your guild treated me like dirt, so have fun wearing a tube top and miniskirt." read Hinata.

Looking down, she discovered that she was now dressed rather immodestly.

"I'm a bit embarrased..." said the fire dragonslayer.

Curious, she noticed that Natsu was looking at her.

"What?" asked Hinata.

As it turned out, Gray had been hit by the same exact curse as Hinata was, though it affected him differently.

"What's this?" asked the ice mage as he read his pamphlet.

"As I've said before, your guild treated me like dirt...so for the next twenty-four hours, you can't wear a shirt." read Gray.

Sure enough, Gray's shirt disappeared.

"Oh well." answered the ice mage.

Immediately, Juvia began to squeal.

Cana had been hit with her curse next.

"What's this now?" asked the card mage.

Immediately, she began to read her pamphlet. She had been hit by the Sobriety Curse.

"I'm going to destroy everything you and your guild hold dear...say goodbye to liquor, whiskey, and beer." read Cana.

Suddenly, her whiskey bottle disappeared.

Tilting her head upward, she screamed at the sky.

Elfman had been hit with his curse next.

"What's this?" asked the beast mage as he read his pamphlet.

He had been hit by the Altitude Curse.

"Right now you may be towering tall, but once my magic does its job you will be very small." read Elfman.

Suddenly, he began to shrink.

"Not good." he thought.

When the curse had fully taken effect, he was now the size of a small puppy.

Mirajane picked him up shortly afterwards.

"I guess you really are my little brother now..." noted the S-Class Mage.

"Very funny." anwered Elfman.

Suddenly, she received her curse.

"Huh?" asked Mirajane as she read her pamphlet.

Incidentally, she had also been hit by the Altitude Curse...however, it was going to have the opposite effect.

"I think you are a filthy little pig, so I'm going to make you really big." read Mirajane.

Suddenly, she began to grow in size.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Mirajane.

Immediately, her head and torso crashed through the guild hall roof.

"I've become giant!" bellowed the S-Class Mage.

Fortunately, her dress had stayed with her during the transformation.

"Thank goodness..." answered Mirajane.

However, she had suffered some clothing damage. Her former strapped dress had become strapless.

She let out a sigh. This was a rental!

And to make matters worse, it looked like she was stuck. No matter how hard she pressed on the roof with her hands, she couldn't pull herself out of the crater.

"Darn it! I'm trapped!" exclaimed Mirajane.

"Me too." answered Elfman. Unfortunately, he was still in Mirajane's hand when she began to grow, and he had no way of getting off the Fairy Tail guild roof.

"Wow...look at the size of those feet..." noted Lucy.

As it turned out, her shoes had been destroyed in the process, leaving her barefoot.

Suddenly, Lucy received her pamphlet.

"Huh?" asked the kunoichi.

She had also been hit with the Gender Bender curse.

"My Gender Bender curse is going to turn you into a boy. You should probably know that. Doy!" read Lucy.

Immediately, she transformed into a boy.

"As Naruto said...this is going to be really awkward when I need to use the restroom..." said Lucy.

"Should we start calling you Lucas?" asked Shikamaru.

"Maybe..." answered Lucas.

Gajeel received his pamphlet next.

"Let's see what I've got here...the Transvestite Curse? That doesn't sound good..." noted the iron dragonslayer.

He began to read the pamphlet.

"You're not going to enjoy this, I must digress. You're spending twenty-four hours in a dress." read Gajeel.

Suddenly, he found himself wearing a pink dress.

"Oh the humilation!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

Sakura began to giggle.

Suddenly, she received her pamphlet.

"Oh, that's right. I'm cursed too." answered the kunoichi.

Curiously, she had been hit by the Genki Curse.

"The Genki Curse?" asked Sakura.

"For the next twenty-four hours, you're going to be full of life. And yet, you're still going to be in strife." read the kunoichi.

Suddenly, she began to feel very excited.

"Look at me everybody! I'm queen of the world!" exclaimed Sakura.

"You are?" asked Gajeel.

Immediately, she kissed the iron dragonslayer on the lips.

"That wasn't what I expected my first kiss to be like..." said the steel mage.

"Yeah, we've been there." nodded Lucas and Shikamaru in unision.

Sakura then ran out of the room.

Loke was hit with his curse next.

"What's this? The Banishing Curse?" asked the celestial spirit.

Curious, he read the description.

"It looks like you're going home. To the spirit world you roam." read the Celestial Spirit.

"Bye everybody!" he exclaimed as he disappeared in a puff of yellow smoke.

Natsu was hit by his curse next.

"What curse do I have?" asked the fire mage.

As it turned out, he had been affected by the Chipmunk Curse.

"Am I going to turn into a chipmunk?" asked Natsu as he read the pamphlet.

Fortunately, he was not.

"These curses are really making me rejoice. Enjoy having such a high voice." read the fire mage.

Suddenly, his voice began to sound very squeaky.

"Good grief! I sound like I swallowed helium!" exclaimed Natsu.

Hinata began to giggle.

"What's so funny?" asked the fire mage.

"Sorry, Natsu." apologized the kunoichi.

Juvia was hit with her curse next.

"What curse does Juvia have? Drip drop, drip drop." spoke the water mage.

She had been hit with the Restraining Curse.

"The Restraining Curse?" she asked curiously.

She began to read the curse description out loud.

"You're not going to have a good day. You can't come within five feet of Gray." read Juvia.

Suddenly, she was sent flying away from Gray.

"Juvia?" asked the ice mage.

Frantically, she tried to run towards Gray, only to be knocked backwards.

She then realized what was going on.

"Why?!" screamed Juvia, who was now in tears.

Levy was hit with her curse next. She had been hit with the Blindness Curse.

"What do we have here?" asked the letter mage as she pulled out her pamphlet.

"Your obsession of books makes me wonder if you're out of your mind. So, I'm going to make you go blind." read Levy.

Suddenly, everything became dark.

"Where did everyone go? Darn it...now I can't read my books." complained the letter mage.

Jet was hit with his curse next. He had been hit by the Slowness Curse.

"Huh?" asked Jet as he began to read the pamphlet out loud.

"Your super speed is getting on my nerves, you know. So, I'm going to make you take things slow." read the mage.

Suddenly, everything around him seemed...fast.

"Will you guys slow down?" asked Jet extremely slowly.

"What's up with your voice? It sounds messed up." spoke Droy.

Droy ended up getting cursed too, of course.

"What is my curse?" questioned the plant mage.

As it turned out, he had been hit by the Restraining Curse too.

"You're not going to like this curse, I bet. You have to stay five feet away from Jet." read Droy.

Much like Juvia before him, he was sent flying away from Jet.

He began to cry as Juvia placed her hand on his shoulder.

"So, whose left?" asked Naruko.

"Alzack and Bisca haven't been cursed yet, I believe." answered Lucas.

Sure enough, they received their curses.

"What do we have?" asked Alzack.

"Hmm?" inquired Bisca.

"You two lovebirds make me sick. So for this curse I'm going to make you stick." read Alzack.

Suddenly, the duo found themselves glued together.

"Uh-oh..." said Bisca.

Even Shikamaru was not spared from the curse.

"What a drag..." said the shadow ninja.

Sighing, he began to read his curse out loud. He had been hit by the Underpants Curse.

"I see London, I see France. You're wearing ladies' underpants! I know, I should have come up with a rhyme more original...but it's not easy making so many rhymes." read Shikamaru.

Sure enough, he found himself wearing ladies' underwear.

"Well, I hope nobody notices..." said the shadow ninja.

"Yeah..." nodded Lucas, his cheeks turning red.

At that very moment, Kimimaro entered the hallway.

"What's going on? I saw you three entering the interdimensional portal with frowns on your faces." said Kimimaro.

"We fell victim to a gypsy's curse." explained Hinata.

Suddenly, a pamphlet appeared in Kimimaro's hands.

He had been hit by the Aging Curse.

"What's this?" asked Kimimaro.

"Breaking my crystal ball was really cold. So, I'm going to make you old." read the bone ninja.

Sure enough, he began to become very old indeed.

"What's going on, fellers?" asked the now elderly Kimimaro.

Now, all that was left was Makarov and Happy.

Makarov was hit by his curse first. Apparently, the gypsy had saved Happy for last just so he could realize what he had brought upon his guild.

"What is my curse?" asked Makarov.

He had been hit by the Intoxication Curse.

"You treated my crystal ball like it was junk. Now I'm going to make you really drunk." read Makarov.

All of a sudden, Makarov was intoxicated.

"Look at you all! Prancing around in your underpants! I think I'll do so too!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

Immediately, he began to pull a Gray Fullbuster, causing everyone else to scream in horror.

"Alright then! It's time to do the hokey pokey!" exclaimed Makarov.

Shortly afterwards, he began to do so.

"Why couldn't I have been hit by that curse?" complained Cana.

"I guess I'm finally getting my curse now..." spoke Happy.

The curse pamphlet appeared in his hand.

"L-let's see what she cursed me with..." answered the Exceed.

Inevitably, she wasn't going to be merciful.

"You broke my Crystal Ball, Happy. You made me very unhappy. I'm going to take away your favorite dish. For the next twenty-four hours, you will not be able to eat fish." read Happy.

Sure enough, the fish that was in the Exceed's hand disappeared.

"Nooooo!" bellowed the Exceed.

Shortly afterwards, he began to hear the gypsy's evil laugh.

"I'm so sorry, everyone..." said Happy.

_A few hours later..._

"This is a disaster..." said Erza.

"I know..." nodded Naruko.

"I can't believe that the gypsy turned me into a child again..." spoke the knight.

"Yeah...I can't believe she turned me into a girl!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Should we try to hunt her down to see if she'll change us back?" asked Erza.

"We could do that, but she's probably gone into hiding..." noted Naruko.

"You're right. We're probably going to have a hard time searching for her." acknowledged the mage.

"To think that she was powerful enough to curse the entire guild..." spoke the genin.

"I don't want to get on her bad side." answered Erza.

"Happy did that, and look how he ended up!" exclaimed Naruko.

"So, are you enjoying life as a girl?" asked the knight.

"Well, I do admit that I've got a nice pair of melons...I still miss being a boy though." noted the kunoichi.

"At least you have a pair. Mine have vanished off the face of Fiore!" exclaimed Erza.

"How sad." nodded Naruko.

"I can't wait for the twenty-four hours to be up so that I can become nineteen again..." spoke the knight.

"Me too. These twenty-four hours are going to be the worst hours of our life." noted Naruko.

"You're probably right, Naruko." answered Erza.

"I wonder how our guildmates are doing. They're probably not doing any better. They must be suffering from the gypsy's curse as we speak." acknowledged the kunoichi.

"Some of them were luckier than others, I suppose. Gray didn't seem to mind his." acknowledged the six-year-old.

"Still, I'm feeling sorry for everyone. Why did that gypsy have to be so vengeful?" noted Naruko.

"May Mavis Vermillion have pity on us all." nodded Erza.

"Don't forget the ten-tailed beast." said the kunoichi.

"Right, I don't think we can forget him either..." answered the knight.

_Meanwhile..._

Hinata sighed. Ever since she had been hit with the fanservice curse, people simply would not stop staring at her.

"Am I really that attractive?" questioned the kunoichi as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Unfortunately, there were still twenty-three hours left until the curse wore off. She was going to be stuck being dressed like that for a while.

She let out a sigh.

"Your curse is making you suffer too, huh?" asked Natsu.

"It sure is." nodded Hinata.

"Darn that gypsy..." said the fire mage.

Immediately, some of the guild mages began to laugh at him.

"Leave him alone! He's been cursed! Give him a break!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Thanks..." said Natsu.

"I wonder if I'm going to end up in the Dragon Magazine..." noted the kunoichi.

"They're going to have a hard time taking a full-body picture of Mirajane." acknowledged the fire mage.

"I bet they are. Her upper half crashed through the roof!" exclaimed Hinata.

"She's the tallest mage in our guild by far!" bellowed Natsu.

"I know..." said Mirajane in a rather booming voice.

"Hey there, Mirajane." spoke Hinata.

"Hey..." answered the S-Class Mage.

"Are you still stuck up there?" asked Natsu.

"Yes, I am. I can't get my ribs free..." spoke Mirajane.

"I'm stuck up here too!" exclaimed Elfman in an even squeakier voice than Natsu.

"Should we pay her a visit?" asked Hinata.

"Sure...but how do we do that?" inquired Natsu.

"Well, since we're ninja, we should be able to leap up there..." acknowledged the fire dragonslayer.

"Oh, right." nodded the fire mage.

Immediately, the duo went outside and leapt up to the roof where Mirajane and Elfman were.

"Hi there!" exclaimed Mirajane.

"Hi, Mirajane!" greeted Natsu.

"Hi, Elfman." said Hinata.

"How'd you two get up here?" inquired Elfman.

"We leapt like kangaroos." explained the kunoichi.

"Ah, I see." nodded Mirajane.

Once again, she tried to free herself.

"Well, I left a crack in the roof this time..." noted the S-Class Mage.

Why did her waist have to be wedged in the roof so tightly?

"You might not want to struggle so much. You might make the roof collapse..." spoke Natsu.

"I guess I really am stuck up here then..." acknowledged Mirajane.

"Don't worry! You'll have this action figure to keep you company! He looks just like your brother!" exclaimed the fire mage, holding out Elfman in front of her.

"That's because he is my brother." answered the S-Class Mage.

"Huh? Oh, that's right. Elfman got shrunk." noted Hinata.

Immediately, Natsu handed Elfman back to his sister.

"I guess I'll just loiter here then." said Mirajane.

She subsquently sat down, causing the meeting room to shake.

"Careful now!" exclaimed Hinata.

"See you!" bellowed Natsu.

Immediately, the duo jumped off the roof.

"I have to admit, there sure is a nice view up here..." noted Mirajane.

"There sure is." nodded Elfman.

_Meanwhile..._

"Honey, what's the matter?" asked Gildarts Clive.

"Alcohol...withdrawal...it's driving me...crazy." said Cana.

As it turned out, she had curled herself into a ball and was shaking herself back and forth.

"C'mon! Surely there's something else you can drink! I've got Kool-Aid right here!" exclaimed Cana's father.

Immediately, Cana began to drink the Kool-Aid. Incidentally, it was cherry-flavored.

Suddenly, they began to hear something.

"Huh?" asked Cana.

"What was that?" inquired Gildarts.

"Oh yeah!" bellowed Kool-Aid Man, bursting through the wall.

"Hey! You're killing our deposit!" bellowed the crash mage.

The Kool-Aid Man slowly began to walk away.

"It's just not the same..." complained Cana.

"I'm sure that the curse will wear off eventually...twenty-four hours, right?" asked Cana's father.

"Why aren't you cursed?" inquired the alcoholic.

"I developed an immunity to gypsy curses a long time ago." noted the S-Class Mage.

"Wow..." answered Cana.

"I'm just that good." said Gildarts.

"I wish I had that immunity..." spoke the alcoholic.

"I'm sure you'll get it eventually." answered Cana's father.

"I hope." spoke Cana.

Immediately, she began to drink some more Kool-Aid.

"Hmm, this one happens to be blueberry..." noted the alcoholic mage.

"I've got a lot of different flavors..." acknowledged Gildarts.

_Meanwhile..._

Happy was feeling depressed. Thanks to the gypsy curse, he could not eat fish. Every time he tried to eat one, it completely disappeared.

"I'm starving..." complained the Exceed.

Apparently, he was going to have to find something else to do.

Shrugging, he decided to head to the meeting hall where the curse ran its course.

Oddly enough, Makarov was still there doing the hokey pokey.

"You put your right foot out...that's what it's all about..." murmured the drunken man.

Suddenly, he noticed Mirajane's bare feet a few feet away from him.

"Hmm?" asked Happy.

Curious, he pulled out a feather and began to tickle them.

Immediately, Mirajane began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Elfman.

"Someone's tickling my feet!" exclaimed Mirajane.

Unfortunately, the roof was beginning to shake.

"Hmm, something tells me I might want to stop...but this is too much fun!" exclaimed Happy.

He resumed tickling Mirajane's feet.

"Ohhohohoho! Ahhahahaha!" laughed Mirajane.

"It's good to see you laugh...but at this rate..." spoke Elfman.

More cracks were beginning to appear on the roof.

"I can't stop now!" exclaimed Happy as he continued tickling Mirajane.

"Hahahahahaha!" laughed the S-Class Mage.

"Oh no..." murmured Elfman.

At that very moment, the roof Mirajane had burst through collapsed.

"I may have...not thought things through..." noted Happy.

"It's true, you didn't." nodded Elfman.

"At least I'm free now." noted Mirajane.

"Am I going to have to pay for the damages?" asked the Exceed.

"We'll go see our insurance provider.." said Elfman.

Immediately, Elfman and Mirajane headed towards the city.

As they did so, they couldn't help but shake the feeling that they were forgetting something, though they weren't quite sure what.

"Bye!" exclaimed the Exceed.

_Meanwhile..._

Due to her newfound energy, Sakura was bouncing off the walls...literally.

"Look at me go!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"You sure are fast..." noted Shikamaru.

"It's true, she is." spoke Lucas.

"I'm the fastest ninja alive!" bellowed Sakura.

"Good for you." said Shikamaru.

"I'm sorry that you're wearing ladies' underwear..." acknowledged the summoner ninja.

"Well, at least it's comfortable." noted the shadow ninja.

"That's good." agreed Lucas.

"Woohoo!" squealed Sakura as she continued to bounce off the walls.

"She's going to feel pretty exhausted once the curse wears off, isn't she?" inquired Lucas.

"It looks that way." nodded Shikamaru.

At that very moment, Sakura noticed a chocolate bar.

"Chocolate? Chocolate?! Chocolate!" screamed Sakura at the top of her lungs.

Lucas covered his ears.

Immediately, she picked up the chocolate bar and put it in her mouth.

"Om nom nom nom!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"I was going to eat that." complained Shikamaru.

Immediately, Sakura went to go look for more chocolate.

Unfortunately, Gajeel happened to be eating one.

"This chocolate tastes great...it gets my mind off being forced into a dress..." spoke Gajeel.

Suddenly, Sakura took Gajeel's chocolate bar and began to eat it.

"Delicious!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

She then began to squeal.

"Hey!" bellowed the iron dragonslayer.

A few seconds later, Sakura ran away.

"Buh-bye!" shouted the teenage girl as she did so.

Gajeel sighed. Why did Sakura have to turn so genki?

He was starting to wish that she would return to her old self.

He began to sigh.

"I better go hide my chocolate bars." he noted.

_Meanwhile..._

Juvia was very unhappy. Because of the curse, she couldn't come within five feet of Gray.

Then again, he did seem a bit uncomfortable when she began to enter his body earlier.

"This isn't fair..." said the water mage.

On the plus side, she did get to see him shirtless.

"Oh, right...this isn't all bad." she noted.

Sure enough, Gray was eating an ice cream cone.

However, she noticed that there were several fangirls with him.

"Wow, Gray! You are so hot without your shirt on!" exclaimed one of the fangirls.

"I wish you would stay like this all the time!" bellowed another fangirl.

"Thanks. I'll be like this until tomorrow." said Gray.

The water inside Juvia's body began to boil.

"Can I get an autograph?" asked yet another fangirl.

"Yes, you can." nodded Gray.

Immediately, he gave the fangirl his autograph.

"Enough!" bellowed Juvia, scalding the fangirls from a distance.

"Hey! Take it easy!" demanded Gray.

Immediately, the fangirls ran away, and Juvia settled down.

"Sorry about that, Gray." spoke Juvia.

"Why is she obsessed with me?" thought Gray.

Admittedly, he was quite fond of Juvia himself, though he didn't really see why she kept stalking him all the time.

She even wanted to enter his body using Sakon and Ukon's kekkei genkai...talk about awkward.

"I bet she isn't happy about being forced to stay away from me..." noted the ice mage.

At least the curse was going to wear off soon, right? There was only about twenty hours left to go...

Then again, that probably felt like eternity to Juvia.

"Maybe I should go look for a cure..." noted Gray.

But how exactly was he supposed to cure a gypsy's curse? Maybe there was someone in the guild that knew how.

"Maybe I should go visit the local witchdoctor..." answered the ice mage.

Then again, he wasn't really complaining about his curse himself.

Nonetheless, he decided that he needed to help his friends.

"Off to the witchdoctor I go." spoke Gray.

Fortunately, there was a witchdoctor hut not too far from where he was standing.

"Well, speak of a devil slayer." said the ice mage.

Immediately, he entered the hut where the witchdoctor was waiting.

"Can I help you?" inquired the witchdoctor.

"I've been cursed by a gypsy...and so have my guild." explained Gray.

"Oh my...that's serious." answered the doctor.

"I've been cursed to not wear a shirt..." spoke the ice mage.

"I see." spoke the magician.

"Can you help us out? The gypsy did say that the curse was going to wear off in twenty-four hours...but I don't think my guild is going to be able to wait too long." answered Gray.

The witchdoctor immediately asked what curses had been inflicted upon his guildmates.

"I want to start with Juvia first...she seems really upset about hers." spoke Gray.

Immediately, the witchdoctor told Gray that in order to break the curse early, Juvia needed to accept Gray's personal boundaries.

"Go figure." spoke the ice mage.

He then went to go tell Juvia the good news.

_Meanwhile..._

Juvia sighed. Now that she thought of it, maybe she had gotten too obsessed with Gray for her own good. She had decorated her room with posters of him...without his shirt on.

Then again, he usually didn't have his shirt on.

"Maybe Juvia should try restraining herself a bit more..." answered the water mage.

Granted, Gray did seem to like her in return, considering what he promised Kenichi for what he did to her friends.

"Alright...from now on, Juvia's going to be more respectful for Gray's privacy. If he wants to just be friends, then so be it." answered Juvia.

Suddenly, she felt a weight lifted from her shoulders.

"Why does Juvia suddenly feel so better?" inquired the water mage.

Shrugging, she decided to leave her room.

Sure enough, Gray was nearby.

"I found out how to cure y-"

Suddenly, she crashed into the ice mage.

"Sorry!" apologized Juvia.

Gray gasped in surprise.

"You were able to come within five feet of me!" exclaimed the ice mage.

"Juvia was?!" bellowed Juvia.

"You must have be able to cure yourself...thank goodness." said Gray.

"How did Juvia did it?" inquired the water mage.

"It says here that you could have cured yourself if you learned to respect my personal boundaries..." noted the ice mage.

"Funny, Juvia just did that..." answered Juvia.

Gray let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully, Juvia would not stalk him for now on.

"Alright. From now on, I'm not going to enter your body!" exclaimed the water mage.

"You can enter my body if you want to...just don't do it without my permission." answered the ice mage.

"Does Juvia have your permission?" inquired Juvia.

"You've had a bad day...so yes." nodded Gray.

Immediately, Juvia began to enter Gray's body.

"You know, part of me actually enjoys this." thought the ice mage.

_Meanwhile..._

"Hey, father...I'm home again." spoke Hinata.

Hiashi entered the door.

"Good to see you again, my beloved d-"

Suddenly, he gasped in surprise.

"What the-" exclaimed Hinata's father.

"I got hit with a gypsy's curse...now I'm stuck wearing revealing outfits." explained Hinata.

"That's unfortunate! You shouldn't dress like that!" bellowed Hiashi Hyuga.

"But I caught you wearing a speedo last week." answered the kunoichi.

Hinata's father sweatdropped.

"How long is the curse going to be?" asked Hiashi.

"About twenty-four h-"

Suddenly, Hinata found herself dressed modestly again.

"Never mind...how did I get cured so quickly?" inquired the kunoichi.

Maybe she was resistant to curses? Makarov did mention about her having an excessive amount of goodness in her body...so maybe her purity allowed her to resist dark magic.

Hiashi Hyuga let out a sigh of relief.

"Maybe I should try curing Natsu..." said Hinata.

"Natsu?" asked Hinata's father.

"He's the one I inherited my fire dragonslayer magic from..." explained the kunoichi.

"I see..." answered Hiashi Hyuga.

"He got cursed to sound like a chipmunk..." spoke Hinata.

"That's unfortunate." acknowledged the leader of the Hyuga clan.

"I'm going to go tell him the good news." said the kunoichi.

"Hurry on back!" exclaimed Hinata's father.

Immediately, Hinata went to go search for the interdimensional portal.

Thankfully, it was still in the same place.

"Here I go!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

_Fairy Tail has been cursed! Oh no! Thankfully, they're working on counteracting it..._

_In the next chapter, everyone's going to be free! Hooray! But unfortunately the gypsy is going to get away. Dang it._


	30. Chapter 30: End Of The Curse

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, well, we're going to see the end of the curse. Hooray! That's what you want, right?_

_You want our heroes to be free of their curses, right? Right?_

**Chapter 30: End Of The Curse**

Hinata immediately approached Natsu to tell him the good news.

"Hey there, Natsu! Just want to let you know I'm free of the curse now." said Hinata.

"That's good...my voice is as squeaky as ever." noted the fire mage.

"Sorry to hear that." sympathized Hinata.

"Not only that, but my throat is starting to hurt..." spoke the fire mage.

"Is there anything I can do to make it better?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Well, I could use some fire right now..." said Natsu.

Immediately, Hinata handed Natsu a fireball.

"Thanks." spoke the fire mage.

He immediately consumed the fireball.

"That's better." said Natsu.

Hinata gasped in surprise.

"What?" asked the fire mage.

"Your voice isn't squeaky anymore!" exclaimed Hinata.

"What? It isn't? Thank goodness!" bellowed Natsu.

"So, what do you want to do now?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I want to go see my father...my foster father, that is." answered the fire mage.

"Oh, right. I bet you miss him." noted Hinata.

"Do I ever!" exclaimed Natsu.

Immediately, he went to go visit his foster father.

"See you later!" shouted Hinata.

_About half an hour later..._

"Father, I'm home!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Good to see you again, Natsu." spoke Igneel.

"Why did you leave?" inquired the fire mage.

"I'm sorry...I'm a rather busy dragon these days. I didn't have much time to spend with you." explained the fire dragon.

"I see." nodded Natsu.

"I'm sorry. I'm going to try to see that this doesn't happen again..." spoke Igneel.

"That's a relief." acknowledged the fire mage.

"By the way, there was a teenage girl about your age not too long ago. She mentioned something about inheriting your fire dragonslayer magic." said the fire dragon.

"Did she happen to have long black hair?" inquired Natsu.

"She did. Why do you ask?" asked Igneel.

"I think that was Hinata..." said the fire mage.

"Ah, I see. Did you inherit anything from her in return?" inquired the fire dragon.

"As a matter of fact, I did. I inherited her Byakugan." answered the fire mage.

"Her Byakugan?" questioned Igneel.

"I have enhanced eyesight now...I can see things for miles. I actually really like it." said Natsu.

"You can?" inquired the fire dragon.

"Yes, I can." nodded the fire mage.

Immediately, Natsu activated the Byakugan.

"It sure is useful." noted the fire dragonslayer.

"I bet it is. I wonder if anyone has tried to steal it in the past." questioned Igneel.

Somehow, Natsu got the feeling that that was true. Was there a dojutsu bandit on the loose? If so, the Hyuga Clan may be in danger.

"Personally I'd like to ask her some questions about it..." noted the fire dragonslayer.

"Like...what?" inquired the fire dragon.

"I haven't decided yet." said the fire dragonslayer.

"Alright then...anyways, would you like to do some more training? You always were such a good student." noted Igneel.

"I wonder if I should bring Hinata here...she'd probably appreciate it." acknowledged the fire dragonslayer.

"I suppose she would." nodded the fire dragon.

"Oddly enough there was a rumor that we were a couple not too long ago..." noted Natsu.

"Well, she does happen to be a fire dragonslayer like you are now." acknowledged Igneel.

"She sure is. I want to spar with her! I bet it would be intense!" exclaimed the fire dragonslayer.

"You want to spar with her?" asked the fire dragon.

"Don't worry! I'm not going to hurt her much. She's my friend!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Oh. Now I get it. You always did enjoy fighting." spoke Igneel.

"I'll do that once we're free of the gypsy's curse." said the fire dragonslayer.

"Gypsy's curse?" inquired the fire dragon.

"My best friend in the world Happy made a gypsy mad at him...so she cursed him and my guild." explained Natsu.

"Do you want me to hunt her down so that she can reverse this?" asked Igneel.

"I don't think she's worth it...she's just a bitter old woman that's never going to forgive us no matter how hard we try." answered the fire dragonslayer.

"Fair enough." answered the fire dragon.

"Good to see you again! I'm going to head back to my guild to see how my guildmates are doing...they aren't too happy about the curse." acknowledged Natsu.

"Good to see you're concerned about them." spoke Igneel.

"See you!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"Goodbye, my son. I'll try not to be gone so long this time, though unfortunately I can't make any promises." answered the fire dragon.

Natsu immediately left Igneel in his volcanic cave, waving goodbye as he did so.

"I'm so happy to see my foster father again." thought the fire mage.

Personally he wondered if he should throw a party.

Oddly enough, he got the feeling that Hinata's father had thrown a party for her not too long ago.

"What a coincidence." thought Natsu.

_Meanwhile..._

"It feels so awkward being a girl..." said Naruko.

"And it feels so awkward being a boy..." nodded Lucas.

When were they going to be free of the transgender curse?

There had to be a way to free themselves.

At that very moment, Gray approached them.

"Hey there! Can you help us? We're in quite a pickle here! And I prefer cucumbers over pickles." asked the genin.

"Yes, we are. We're in a really bad situation." nodded Lucas.

"I know how to cure you!" exclaimed the ice mage.

"You do?" inquired the current jinchuriki of the nine-tailed fox.

"Yes, I do. Naruto, in order to free yourself of the curse, you need to do something masculine." explained Gray.

"Something masculine? OK..." answered the female ninja.

Immediately, Naruko began to sing "I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt".

Shortly afterwards, she began to transform back into normal.

"Thank goodness!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Now it's my turn." said Lucas.

Immediately, he began to sing "I'm A Barbie Girl".

He began to transform back into normal as well.

"That's a relief!" exclaimed Lucy.

"It sure is." nodded the genin.

"By the way, I managed to inherit your Sexy Jutsu, Naruto." said the teenage girl.

"You did? Can you show it to me?" inquired Naruto.

"Um, sure." nodded the teenage girl.

Immediately, she used the Sexy Jutsu in front of the genin.

"Wow! You're even better at this than I am!" exclaimed the ninja.

"Really? I do?" asked Lucy.

"Uh-huh!" nodded the genin.

**"This is the best day ever." **said Kurama.

Immediately, she transformed back to normal.

"Did you inherit anything else from me?" inquired Lucy.

"Well, I found this in my stuff." said Naruto.

"Oh, that's my whip. Heh heh." answered the summoner.

"Do you have a spare?" asked the genin.

"As a matter of fact, I do...I should use it whenever I end up in combat." noted Lucy as she pulled out a whip.

"Right, of course!" nodded Naruto.

"Then again I have inherited your Rasengan." acknowledged the teenage girl.

"Oh right...you have." nodded the genin.

"So, how's life as interdimensional partners?" asked Gray.

"Pretty good, pretty good." said Lucy.

"Now that I think of it...aren't you Sakura's interdimensional partner?" inquired Naruto.

"Huh? Oh that's right, I am." nodded the ice mage.

"What did you inherit from her again?" asked the genin.

Suddenly, one of Fairy Tail's mages bumped into him.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" bellowed Gray.

"Sorry!" apologized one of the mages.

"Oh that's right...you inherited her short temper." answered Naruto.

"I believe I also inherited her super strength." nodded the ice mage.

Immediately, he picked up Naruto and raised him above his head.

"Can you put me down?" asked the genin curiously.

"Huh? Of course." nodded Gray.

Immediately, he put Naruto down and set him on the floor.

"So, are you still cursed?" inquired Lucy.

"Yes...I still can't wear a shirt...not like I care." answered the ice mage.

"Right..." nodded Naruto.

"It feels good to be free of ours." acknowledged Lucy.

"Yes, it does...but what about our friends?" asked the genin.

"They might be able to cure themselves...they might not. It depends on what they do." answered the ice mage.

_Meanwhile in the Celestial Spirit World..._

"I have to admit, it feels nice to be back home..." noted Loke.

However, there was one thing he was worried about.

"Loke! I missed you!" bellowed Loke's son.

"Huh?" asked the Celestial Spirit.

"You've been gone for so long!" exclaimed the little boy.

Immediately, he jumped into Loke's arms.

"Uh-oh..." thought Loke.

A few minutes later, Loke's wife revealed herself.

"There you are, Loke! Do you have any idea how worried I was?" inquired Loke's wife.

"Oh dear..." murmured the celestial spirit.

He was then approached by his mother.

"Lokekins! Why did you leave the celestial world for so long without calling?" asked Loke's mother.

"I must have been away longer than I thought." noted Loke.

Immediately, she began to kiss Loke many, many times.

"Oh god..." thought the celestial spirit.

"Hey there, son! It's good to see you back!" exclaimed Loke's father.

Immediately, he began to hug Loke so tightly he was unable to breathe.

"You're...choking...me..." murmured the bespectacled spirit.

Finally, Loke's daughter paid him a visit.

"I'm so happy to see you again, papa!" exclaimed Loke's daughter.

Immediately, she began to hug Loke tightly on the leg.

"Well, compared to everyone else that isn't so bad..." noted the celestial spirit.

"Welcome home!" exclaimed Loke's family.

He began to sigh. He really needed to visit home more.

"I'm going to have to put that on my schedule..." said the celestial spirit.

_At the Fairy Tail guild hall..._

Sakura was still bouncing off the walls.

"Woohoo! Yay!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

The more Sakura did so, the more unnerved Gajeel became.

"This just isn't right..." said the iron dragonslayer.

Eventually, Sakura jumped in front of Gajeel.

"Wow! Look at you! You are so awesome!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Finally, Gajeel couldn't take it anymore.

Suddenly, he placed his hands on Sakura's shoulders.

"Please! Stop this! I can't take it anymore! Please!" bellowed the iron dragonslayer.

As he did so, a tear fell from his eye onto Sakura's massive forehead.

Oddly enough, this actually did the trick.

"Gajeel?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Sakura?" asked the iron dragonslayer.

"Ugh...my head..." murmured Sakura.

As it turned out, she now had a headache.

Immediately, she summoned an icepack to soothe her aching head.

"What happened?" asked the kunoichi.

"You got cursed into being a genki girl..." said Gajeel.

"That explains a lot." nodded the teenage girl.

"The curse also made me wear a woman's dress." spoke the iron dragonslayer.

"Huh. That dress actually looks good on you." acknowledged Sakura.

"You think so?" inquired Gajeel.

"Uh-huh!" nodded the kunoichi.

"Huh." answered the iron dragonslayer.

"How are we going to free you of your curse?" questioned the medical ninja.

"I don't know." spoke Gajeel.

"Ah well. I'm sure you'll get freed eventually." noted Sakura.

"Right, of course." nodded the iron dragonslayer.

He had just sixteen hours to go. He could live through it...right?

_Meanwhile at Oak Town..._

Mirajane and Elfman went to collect their insurance policy. However, they suddenly remembered something important.

"Oh, that's right...I happen to be a giant at the moment..." acknowledged the S-Class Mage.

Immediately, the citizens began to panic.

"Run for cover!" bellowed one of the citizens.

Oddly enough, some of them were staring at her instead. Apparently, Mirajane was even more attractive while she was giant.

"Go figure...I still want to change back though." noted Mirajane as she noticed her new admirers.

At that very moment, the military arrived.

"What seems to be the problem?" inquired one of the soldiers.

Immediately, one of the citizens pointed to Mirajane.

"Good lord!" bellowed the soldier.

"Um, hi?" asked Mirajane.

She was starting to wonder if adventuring into the town was such a good idea.

"Easy...I don't mean any trouble." said the teenage girl.

Suddenly, they noticed Elfman inside her hand.

"She's got a voodoo doll!" exclaimed one of the soldiers.

Immediately, they began to open fire on Mirajane.

However, due to her immense size, the bullets did little more than tickle her, causing her to fall down on the floor and start laughing.

"Oh my gosh! Stop! That tickles! Hahahahaha!" laughed Mirajane.

"Here we go again." answered Elfman.

Eventually, the soldiers ran out of bullets, causing her to pant for breath.

"Why am I getting tickled so much today?" asked the S-Class Mage.

"Beats me." shrugged Elfman.

"We need backup!" exclaimed one of the soldiers.

However, at that very moment, a giant lizard began attacking the city.

"Noooo!" screamed one of the citizens.

Realizing that the citizens were in danger, Mirajane hit the lizard with a darkness spell.

It sent the giant lizard flying.

"Wow..." answered the S-Class Mage.

Curious, the citizens began to wonder if Mirajane was as dangerous to them as she looked.

Suddenly, one of them recognized her.

"Isn't that Mirajane? The S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail? How'd you get so big?" inquired one of the citizens.

"It's a long story." answered Mirajane.

"It sure is!" exclaimed Elfman.

"Elfman? How'd you get so small?" inquired said citizen.

"We got hit by a curse." explained the S-Class candidate.

"A curse? Well, we know a doctor that can cure you." said the citizen.

"Alright then." nodded Mirajane.

_A few minutes later..._

"Alright, this is going to hurt...but only for a moment." answered the doctor.

Immediately, he injected the serum into Mirajane's foot, causing her to laugh.

"Why are my feet so ticklish?" inquired the S-Class Mage.

She then began to turn back to normal.

"Thank goodness..." said Mirajane.

"Can you change me back too?" inquired Elfman.

The doctor injected Elfman with a growth serum, causing him to return to his normal size.

"Thank goodness...I was worried that my sister was going to squish me. She was my big sister...in more ways than one." said the man.

"She sure was." nodded the doctor.

"Thank goodness...now I can collect our guild insurance policy." spoke Mirajane.

Suddenly, she noticed that there was No Shoes, No Service sign nearby.

"Oh, right...do you have any shoes? Mine broke..." said the S-Class Mage.

"Funny, I was starting to get the feeling that you were a free spirit or something..." noted the doctor.

"Yeah...that's not how I roll. I have several pairs of shoes back home actually." spoke Mirajane.

"Do you now?" asked the doctor as he put some shoes on Mirajane's feet.

"There...hopefully I won't get tickled so much now..." said the teenage girl.

Immediately, she went to go collect the insurance policy.

"What happened?" asked the insurance salesman as he signed the form.

"I turned giant and broke through the guild roof...and then Happy made it collapse." said Mirajane.

"You turned giant?" inquired the salesman.

"It's true, I did. My little brother shrunk massively." nodded the S-Class mage.

"Did you get cursed or something?" asked the man.

"It's true, we did." acknowledged Mirajane.

"Who was it?" inquired the insurance salesman.

"It was a gypsy..." said the teenage girl.

"Careful now, they're pretty vengeful." noted the salesman as Mirajane left his office.

"I know..." nodded Mirajane.

"So, are we going to get the insurance money? Or do they think we committed insurance fraud?" inquired Elfman.

"Insurance fraud?" questioned the S-Class Mage.

"Yes, I know..." nodded her brother.

"There wouldn't happen to be an insurance for gypsy curses, would there? I think we should invest in that sometime." noted Mirajane.

"Yes, we should." nodded Elfman.

Immediately, they headed back to their guild.

_Meanwhile..._

"You know...maybe I have been drinking too much lately." noted Cana as she drank some more Kool-Aid.

"It's true, you do drink a lot. I'm personally impressed how strong your liver is...it's not nearly as strong as mine." acknowledged Gildarts.

"Really? It isn't?" inquired Cana.

"It's true, it's not. Granted, I can drink a lot of alcohol myself, though I don't usually drink much." explained Cana's father.

"I might actually surpass you one day father." noted Cana.

"Wanna bet?" asked Gildarts.

"Alright, from now on I'm going to only drink alcohol five times a day..." said the alcoholic.

Suddenly, she felt that something had been lifted from her.

"Hmm?" asked Cana.'

Curious, she found a bottle of alcohol not far from where she was sitting.

Intrigued, she put in her hand...and it didn't disappear.

"Is the curse gone?" questioned the card mage.

Apparently, it was.

"Yes!" cheered Cana.

Immediately, she began to wolf down the alcohol.

"Now that was refreshing!" exclaimed the mage.

"It appears that deciding to not drink alcohol as much freed you of the curse..." noted Gildarts.

"I know...funny how that worked." acknowledged Cana.

"I heard that gypsy's curses actually work like that...they can both help you and hurt you." said Gildarts.

"I guess." nodded the card mage.

Shrugging, she decided to try some more of the Kool-Aid.

"Oh yeah..." said Cana.

"Oh yeah!" bellowed the Kool-Aid Man, crashing through the wall.

"I thought crashing through walls was supposed to be my job..." questioned Gildarts.

The Kool-Aid Man slowly walked away.

"Is he gone?" asked Cana.

"Yes." nodded Gildarts.

"That's a shame...I was hoping that he was going to give me more Kool-Aid..." questioned Cana.

_A few hours later..._

"We're back!" exclaimed Mirajane.

"Why are you suddenly so small?" asked Natsu.

"I got cured..." answered the S-Class Mage.

"So did I!" exclaimed Elfman.

Natsu let out a sigh of relief.

"Is there anyone else that hasn't been cured yet?" inquired the fire mage.

"I'm not sure..." questioned Mirajane.

"I hope that you can get cured soon..." said Natsu.

"How long does everyone have left to go?" inquired Elfman.

"About twelve hours..." spoke the fire mage.

"Wait...didn't you have a squeaky voice earlier?" questioned the animal mage.

"Huh? Oh, that's right. Hinata cured me." answered Natsu.

"That was nice of her." nodded Mirajane.

"I should give her a thank-you note." said the fire mage.

"Right, you can get onto that." spoke the S-Class Mage.

Natsu nodded.

Immediately, he began to write the thank-you note.

"I'll send it to her now." said the fire mage as he put the thank-you note in the mailbox.

Sure enough, it was sent to Hinata a few minutes later.

"Hmm?" inquired Hinata.

Dear Hinata,

Thank you for freeing me from that horrible curse! My voice sounded absolutely ridiculous! Let me know if you need anything.

From Natsu Dragneel.

"Aww, how sweet." said the kunoichi.

"Is he your boyfriend?" inquired Kiba.

"Ruff?" asked Akamaru.

"What? No, he isn't! I already went over this earlier..." spoke Hinata.

"Oh." answered Shino.

"If I had a boyfriend, I would tell you." answered the fire dragonslayer.

"Right..." nodded Kiba.

"He is a friend of mine though. I will admit that." said Hinata.

"Fair enough." acknowledged Shino.

"Arf!" exclaimed Akamaru.

"I think I should write him a You're Welcome Note." spoke Hinata.

Immediately, she pulled out a piece of paper and sent it to Natsu in return using a sending scroll.

"Alright then." said the fire dragonslayer.

Sure enough, Natsu received Hinata's You're Welcome letter in return.

Dear Natsu,

Don't mention it! I've been helping other people for years. In fact, that's why I became a ninja. Well that, and my father sent me off to the ninja academy.

From Hinata.

"That's nice." said Natsu.

"Is she your girlfriend?" inquired Mirajane.

"What? No, she isn't! I thought I already explained this..." said the fire mage.

"Oh..." answered Elfman.

"Some people just jump to conclusions..." spoke Natsu.

"Right..." nodded the S-Class Mage.

At that very moment, Happy entered the room.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Mirajane.

"Fish...withdrawal..." said the Exceed.

"Uh-oh..." answered Natsu.

Happy collapsed on the floor.

"We might need to take him to the hospital." noted Mirajane.

"How many times have we been at the hospital lately?" questioned the fire mage.

"Beats me...I don't think we've been there for a while." acknowledged Elfman.

"Wasn't that back when we fought against the Sound Four?" inquired the S-Class Mage.

"I heard that they were later found dead...I wonder what happened? I heard that their life force had been drained from their bodies..." asked the beast mage.

"I think Chiyoye happened." answered Mirajane.

"Oh right...I feel sorry for them." said Elfman.

Natsu immediately picked up Happy and took him to the vet.

Fortunately, it wasn't very far away from the guild hall.

"Thank goodness for that." said the fire mage.

"Do you want to put him down? I can use this to put him to sleep." asked the veterinarian, pulling out a needle with euthanasia inside.

"What? No no no no!" exclaimed the fire mage.

The veterinarian put the needle away.

"Oh alright then...what are you here for?" asked the vet.

"It's my best friend, Happy...he's suffering from fish withdrawal..." said Natsu.

"Fish withdrawal?" asked the veterinarian.

"Yeah...he's suffering from a gypsy's curse that's preventing him from eating fish..." spoke the fire mage.

"I see. You think making him eat something will make him feel better?" inquired the vet.

"I think so, yes." nodded the fire dragonslayer.

Immediately, she pulled out some catnip.

"You think he would enjoy this?" asked the animal doctor.

Sure enough, there was an Exceed Approved logo on it, along with a picture of an Exceed's face.

"Yes, I think he would." nodded Natsu.

Immediately, the veterinarian stuffed the catnip in Happy's mouth, causing him to wake up.

"Where am I?" asked the Exceed.

Suddenly, he noticed the veterinarian.

"Oh my god! Don't kill me! I'm too young to die! I don't need to be euthanized!" exclaimed Happy.

"Don't worry, Happy! She's not here to euthanize you!" shouted Natsu.

"Oh, thank goodness." acknowledged the Exceed.

"She is here to give you food though." answered the fire mage.

Immediately, Happy began to eat the catnip.

"This isn't good as fish, but it will do for now." said the blue cat.

"That's a relief." nodded Natsu.

Immediately, he paid the veterinarian some jewels.

"Thank you for helping me with my Exceed." said the fire mage.

"You're welcome." answered the vet.

Natsu then headed back to the Fairy Tail guild along with Happy.

_Two hours later..._

"So, are you still wearing ladies' underwear?" asked Lucy.

"I'm afraid so...it's a good thing Ino and Choji aren't here or they would be laughing at me for sure." noted Shikamaru.

"Right, of course..." nodded the jinchuriki.

"And to think all I wanted to do was to research this world..." answered the shadow ninja.

Lucy immediately handed Shikamaru a Fiore history book.

"Hmm? Thanks." answered the shadow ninja.

Immediately, he began to read the book.

"Let's see now..." said Shikamaru, flipping through the pages.

"So...Fiore is a monarchy?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Lucy.

"Interesting..." answered the shadow ninja.

"Oddly enough our king happens to enjoy wearing a pumpkin on his head...due to the fact that it is magical he can use it to make facial expressions..." said the teenage girl.

"Can he now?" asked Shikamaru.

"It's true, he can." nodded Lucy.

"I wish I had a costume like that..." said the shadow ninja.

Suddenly, she noticed that there was a book on gypsy curses nearby.

"Huh?" inquired the kunoichi.

Curious, she began to look it over.

"Well, I think this is just what we're looking for." said the teenage girl.

Sure enough, it had instructions on how to cure every single curse.

Curious, she decided to look up how to cure Levy.

"Let's see now..." said the teenage girl.

According to the book, she could cure the Blindness Curse...by hitting Levy with a flash grenade.

"A flash grenade?" questioned Lucy.

Shrugging, she decided that it was worth a shot.

"Do you have a flash grenade, Shikamaru?" inquired the kunoichi.

Oddly enough, Shikamaru actually had one on him.

Sure enough, Levy came into the room.

"Where is everyone? I can't find you!" exclaimed Levy.

Shikamaru tossed the flash grenade at Levy.

Immediately, she was able to see again.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the letter mage, covering her eyes.

"I suppose that's going to take some time getting used to." acknowledged Lucy.

"Yes..." nodded Levy.

"Is there a cure for my curse?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Let's see now..." said Lucy.

As it turned out, there was.

"In order to free yourself from the curse...you need to kiss a girl on the lips." spoke the kunoichi.

Shikamaru sweatdropped.

Lucy sighed.

"Well, I guess I'll do it, since we already kissed once..." noted the summoner.

"Fair enough." nodded the shadow ninja.

"You already kissed once?" inquired Levy.

"It was an accident that time." explained Lucy.

"Ah." nodded the letter mage.

Immediately, Lucy kissed Shikamaru on the lips, causing the ladies' underwear to disappear.

This was quickly followed by his briefs reappearing.

Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief.

"I actually enjoyed that." they both thought.

"Should we tell everyone else about this?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"I don't really see a need to." answered Lucy.

Suddenly, she remembered that Levy had witnessed this.

"Are you going to tell anyone else?" inquired the summoner.

"I can keep a secret." answered the letter mage.

"Maybe we should have removed my curse, then removed hers." noted Shikamaru.

"Huh? Oh yeah...that's right. She got cursed with blindness." acknowledged Lucy.

"I think we should try curing Jet and Droy next..." said Levy.

"Right, those are your teammates...you know, you remind me a lot like myself." acknowledged the shadow ninja.

"It's true, we have many similarities." nodded the letter mage.

"I'm a bit scared..." noted Shikamaru.

"I wonder what would happen if your teammates met mine?" inquired Levy.

"I wonder." answered the shadow ninja.

Levy began to scratch her head.

"Well, I guess we're going to cure them next." answered Lucy.

"I'll go with you." said the letter mage.

"You're a good friend of mine, so sure." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, they went to search for Jet and Droy...along with Levy's shadow.

"Hmm? My shadow is coming to life again..." noted the letter mage.

"That's Shikamaru's shadowbending abilities in a nutshell...though I don't ever recall him being able to bend his own." questioned Lucy.

Levy shrugged.

"I guess being an interdimensional partner can be a bit unpredictable..." noted the leader of Team Shadow Gear.

"Yes, it can. I'm not sure which of Naruto's abilities I'm going to inherit next." answered Lucy.

"What was the latest?" inquired Levy.

"His Sexy Jutsu." spoke the kunoichi.

"His Sexy Jutsu?" asked the bookworm.

"It allows me to transform into a half-naked woman...I think I'll use it to flirt with boys." said Lucy.

"You're a lucky girl." answered Levy.

"I suppose I am. I actually used it to drive away my father." explained the kunoichi.

"Your father?" inquired the bookworm.

"Yes, my father. He wanted to take me back so that I could get married to this boy by the name of Suwarr. I hardly even know the guy." spoke Lucy.

"Sorry to hear that." nodded Levy.

"Hopefully after that incident he'll leave me alone...for a while." said the kunoichi.

**"The longer, the better." **answered Kurama.

"Yes, of course." nodded Lucy.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Levy.

"I'm talking to the nine-tailed fox...he lives inside me now." explained the kunoichi.

"Oh, right. The nine-tailed fox. Didn't Naruto tell us about it?" inquired the letter mage.

"Well, it's no longer his responsibility. He has my spirit keys now and I have his nine-tailed fox. It seems like a fair tradeoff." answered Lucy.

"Right..." nodded Levy.

Immediately, they went to go search for the remaining guild mates that were still suffering from a curse.

_Two hours later..._

Erza was trying to grab a cake from the kitchen counter.

However, there was a small problem.

"Can't...reach...the...kitchen...counter." said Erza.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that she was now a child, she was no longer able to reach the cake.

"So tantalizing..." thought the knight.

Suddenly, Naruto approached her.

"Hey there, Erza! Why do you look so down?" asked the genin.

"I can't reach this cake..." said Erza.

"Oh, really? Alright then. Let me help." answered Naruto.

Immediately, Naruto picked up the cake and handed it to Erza.

"Thanks." said the S-Class Mage as she began eating.

"You're welcome." answered the genin.

"This is my favorite flavor..." spoke Erza.

"Your favorite flavor is chocolate?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes." nodded the knight.

"That's good to know..." answered the genin.

Immediately, she began to wipe off her face.

"So, just four more hours until you can be free..." said the genin.

"Yeah, just four more hours." answered Erza.

"So, how does it feel to be six again?" inquired Naruto.

"It brings back bad memories..." said the girl.

"Huh?" asked the genin.

At that very moment, Lucy and Levy burst in.

"Can we help you?" inquired Erza.

"We're here to turn you back to normal." said Lucy.

"Thank goodness. Now I can finally reach the kitchen counter..." spoke the knight.

"The kitchen counter?" questioned Levy.

According to the curse, in order for Erza to be free from the curse, she needed to...eat some cake.

"How ironic. I just ate some cake right now." said the child.

Suddenly, she began to transform into normal.

"The irony." said Erza.

"Yes! Thank goodness!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Now that I think of it...didn't the curse turn you into a girl?" inquired the knight.

"I managed to cure myself." answered the genin.

"I see." nodded Erza.

"So did I." spoke Lucy.

"So, just four more hours until everyone is free?" asked Levy.

"Yes." answered the knight.

"Thank goodness." nodded Naruto.

"I'm going to go look for more cake." said Erza as she went to search for more of her favorite food.

"See you!" exclaimed the genin.

"Thank goodness Naruto was there for me..." thought Erza.

_One hour later..._

Sakura and Gajeel were both in the basement, trying to figure how to free Gajeel from the curse.

Granted, there was only three hours left before the curse was going to end, but Sakura decided that she wanted to help him anyway.

"How are we going to get you out of that dress?" inquired Sakura.

"I don't know..." answered Gajeel.

"There's got to be a way somehow..." noted the kunoichi.

Curious, she began to think of something that she could try.

"Hmm..." thought Sakura.

"Gajeel, how exactly did you release me from the curse?"

"I grabbed onto you and begged you not to jump off the walls..." answered the iron dragonslayer.

"Hmm..." answered the kunoichi.

Suddenly, Sakura had an idea.

"Maybe we should try making you do something unfeminine..." she noted.

"Like...what?" inquired Gajeel.

"Try punching me in the face." answered Sakura.

"What?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

"It doesn't have to be hard..." said the kunoichi.

"OK..." answered Gajeel.

Immediately, he punched Sakura in the face, gently.

Shortly afterwards, his dress disappeared.

"I'm free!" cheered the iron dragonslayer.

"Good for you." said Sakura.

Immediately, Gajeel began to eat some gears.

"That's better." spoke the iron dragonslayer.

"Thank goodness..." answered Sakura.

Suddenly, she began to take her shirt off. Once again, Gray's stripping habit was starting to kick in.

Of course, Gajeel immediately noticed.

"Should I tell her...or not?" thought the iron dragonslayer.

"Why does it suddenly feel so cool?" inquired Sakura.

"That's because you took your shirt off." explained Gajeel.

"Thanks for the warning!" exclaimed the kunoichi as she put her shirt back on.

Curious, she noticed that Gajeel now seemed unhappy about something.

"What?" inquired Sakura.

"Nothing." answered the iron dragonslayer.

Suddenly, she noticed Alzack and Bisca had also been affected by the curse. They in fact had been glued together.

"Can we help you two?" asked the kunoichi.

"No, we're fine." answered Alzack.

"OK..." answered Sakura.

Now that she thought of it, Gray hadn't complained about his curse either. Then again, he was the one that she had inherited her stripping habit from.

"Sakura, you're taking off your pants." said Gajeel.

"Darn it!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Frantically, she put them back on.

"I've got to pay more attention to what I'm doing." noted Sakura.

"Yeah..." nodded the iron dragonslayer.

"Imagine if I went for training with Lady Tsunade and I suddenly started taking my clothes off in front of her..." spoke Sakura.

"Yeah..." acknowledged Gajeel.

_Two hours later..._

On the second floor of the Fairy Tail guild Droy and Jet were still dealing with their curses.

"I miss you so much, Jet..." answered Droy.

"But I'm only five feet away from you." spoke Jet in an extremely slow voice.

At that very moment, Lucy, Levy, and Gray arrived.

"I know how to cure you!" exclaimed Lucy and Gray in unison.

Lucy and Gray looked at each other in confusion.

"You managed to find a cure too?! How'd you do it?!" they exclaimed in unison.

"I found a witchdoctor..." explained Gray.

"I found a book for gypsy's curses." said Lucy.

"Can we focus on freeing Jet and Droy from their curse now?" asked Levy.

"Right, of course. It says here that in order to free Jet, we need to give him some coffee." explained Lucy.

"And it says here that in order to free Droy, we need him to be ten feet away from Jet." said Gray.

"Ten feet away?!" exclaimed Droy.

"Oh dear. He's not too happy about that, is he?" inquired Levy.

"C'mon! You can do it!" exclaimed Lucy.

Reluctantly, Droy stepped ten feet away from Jet.

Shortly afterwards, the curse was lifted and he could be near Jet again.

"Yes! Yes!" cheered the chubby mage.

Immediately, he went up to Jet.

"Congratulations..." said the mage extremely slowly.

"Here is some coffee." spoke Levy as she handed some to Jet.

Drinking the coffee, Jet was transformed back into normal.

"Thank you, Levy. Now I can go fast!" exclaimed Jet.

"Gotta go fast!" bellowed Droy.

Immediately, Jet began to run across the room.

"Yeah, way to go!" exclaimed the plant mage.

"Good to see that you two are happy again." acknowledged Levy.

"We sure are!" exclaimed Droy.

"I got to drink some coffee!" cheered Jet.

"So, is that everyone?" inquired Lucy.

"Makarov, Loke, and myself are still cursed..." explained Gray.

"I believe that Loke's curse banished him to the celestial spirit world..." explained Levy.

"Oh...can you bring him back?" inquired the stripper.

"Sorry, but I'm not the one whose made the contract with him anymore. Naruto is." answered Lucy.

"Oh, right..." answered Gray.

"I hope that he's having a good time back home...he'll be able to come back in just one hour..." said the kunoichi.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing him again." noted the ice mage.

"I guess we'll just wait one hour and watch the remaining curses wear off. It won't be long now." noted Levy.

"It's true, it won't." nodded Lucy.

_One hour later..._

Loke reappeared in a burst of yellow smoke where he was earlier.

"Phew!" exclaimed the celestial spirit.

As it turned out, his glasses had fallen off, his hair was rather messy, his clothes were a mess, and he was covered with kiss marks.

"Again, I really need to go home more." noted Loke.

Suddenly, he noticed Makarov in his underwear.

"What the heck?! What are you doing in your underpants?!" bellowed the celestial spirit.

"Huh?" asked Makarov.

Curious, he looked down, and noticed that he was in his underwear.

"I got drunk again, didn't I?" asked the guildmaster.

"Yes, you did." nodded Loke.

"Man..." answered Makarov as he put on his clothes again.

"Next time don't make me see you in your underwear..." said the Celestial Spirit.

"Right, of course...hey, did you hear about the gypsy's curse?" inquired the guild master.

"Yes, I did. I ended up being sent back home because of it...and wouldn't you know it, my entire family missed me." spoke Loke.

"How long have you been gone?" asked Makarov.

"I don't remember..." answered the Celestial Spirit.

Makarov immediately put his clothes on.

"Thank the Celestial Spirit King..." said Loke.

Shortly afterwards, Kimimaro entered the room.

"Ugh...my back hurts." said the teenage boy.

"That's because you got turned into an old man, much like myself I believe." answered Makarov.

"You look rather young to me." noted Kimimaro.

"That's because I used a jutsu that Tsunade gave me." said the guildmaster.

"Oh, that's right..." nodded the bone ninja.

At that very moment, Alzack and Bisca came in.

"We're not glued together anymore..." answered Alzack.

"I'm actually a bit disappointed." nodded Bisca.

Gray came into the room as well. He was now wearing a shirt.

"It just isn't the same..." said the ice mage.

"So, are we all cured?" inquired Loke.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Makarov.

At that very moment, Happy came in eating a fish.

"I'm sorry! I'll try not to break a crystal ball again, I swear!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"I hope not." answered the guildmaster.

"Why are gypsies so vengeful?" inquired Loke.

"Beats me." answered Happy.

"I don't want to visit a gypsy anytime soon." spoke Makarov.

"Where is the gypsy that cursed us, anyway?" questioned Kimimaro.

_Meanwhile..._

The gypsy let out a sigh. Now that her crystal ball had been destroyed, how was she going to get more customers?

She wondered what she was going to do.

She began to sigh.

"I guess I'll go gambling..." said the gypsy.

She heard that was where people were going to make money these days. The odds were fantastic.

"Let's see how much money I can make." she thought.

Personally, she just hoped that she didn't become addicted to it. She was there to win money, not lose it.

_We now return to the Fairy Tail guild..._

Naruto and Lucy were both relieved by the turn of events. Everyone was finally cured, and nobody was going to go insane.

"Thank goodness." said the genin.

Suddenly, Sakura approached the duo.

"Can we help you?" asked Lucy.

"I almost forgot something! It's almost time for the Chunin Exams!" exclaimed Sakura.

"The Chunin Exams?" inquired Naruto curiously.

"You know, the exams we went on in order to become chunin? Too bad Orochimaru went and spoiled it for us." noted the kunoichi.

"It's true, he did." nodded the genin.

"Do you want to try becoming a chunin again? They're every four months now." said Sakura.

"Every four months?" asked Naruto.

"Again, we've gotten a lot of ninja here lately." noted the kunoichi.

"Um, sure...but won't I need two buddies to go with me?" inquired the genin.

"Huh...oh yeah...the rules say that you need to be in group of three. Of course, since I'm already a chunin and Sasuke's unfortunately no longer with us...you're going to need to find someone else." noted Sakura.

"Who's going with me then?" asked Naruto.

Lucy raised her hand.

"I'll go with him!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Huh? You will? I appreciate it!" bellowed the genin.

"You're welcome...I considered a genin at Konoha myself despite my skill...so I suppose this would be a good opportunity for both of us." noted Lucy.

"We're still going to need a third person though." answered Naruto.

At that very moment, Kimimaro stopped by.

"Well, speak of the devil!" exclaimed the genin.

"Do you want to help us, Kimimaro? We're signing up for the Chunin Exams." said Lucy.

"Sure. Why not." answered the bone ninja.

"Thanks! Together we're going to pass this exam with flying colors!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I suppose we will." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, the trio went through the interdimensional portal to head to Konoha.

Sure enough, there were several ninja awaiting to sign up for the exams.

After waiting in line for a few minutes, Naruto, Lucy, and Kimimaro signed up for the exams.

"So when do the exams start?" inquired the genin.

"Tomorrow, I believe." answered Lucy.

"Yes, of course." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, the trio began to get ready.

_This is a twist, isn't it? Naruto's going to participate in the Chunin Exams again! Don't worry. This time there isn't going to be a maniac interrupting it. This time, Naruto's going to get to become a chunin. Sorry if you're a Naruto purist who wants him to stay a genin forever...but that's not how things are going to work in this fanfic._

_You do want him to become Hokage, don't you?_

_Of course, Lucy and Kimimaro are going to get to become chunin too. That's right...all three of them are going to pass the chunin exams. They're going to have a pretty big advantage considering how powerful they are._

_But since I don't want things to be too easy for them, I'm going to bring back some "old friends"._

_Who are those old friends, you ask? You'll find out._


	31. Chapter 31: The Chunin Exams

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...well, in case you haven't figured it out yet...Naruto and his friends are going to be participating in the Chunin Exams! Well, two of his friends. Granted, one of them was his enemy at one point...but he's a forgiving fellow._

_As before, the first part is going to be a written exam...and there's going to be a secret test of character. Mind you, it's always different every time._

**Chapter 31: The Chunin Exams**

Tsunade stood outside the school where the Chunin Exams were going to take place. The written part, anyway. The second part was the Forest Of Death, which she knew like the back of her hand.

Of course, the Chunin Exams were how she, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru managed to become chunin. Unfortunately, one of them would return to the Forest Of Death later to bite people in the neck and give them his cursed seal of evil.

He was a bad dude.

"Ouch..." murmured the Sannin as she began rubbing the back of her neck. She hadn't experienced it firsthand, but it sure sounded horribly unpleasant.

What kind of psychopath would she turn into if she got infected with the cursed seal?

At that very moment, Lucy and Kimimaro approached her along with Naruto.

"Greetings, Naruto. Are you finally going to try to pass the Chunin Exams again? Mind you, I'm pretty sure you would have passed if it weren't for Orochimaru..." questioned Tsunade.

"Yes, I am!" nodded Naruto.

"By the way, it's good to see you back again. I see that you brought your interdimensional partner with you...wait, isn't that Kimimaro?" inquired the Sannin.

"He's not going to be causing any more trouble. Really, I promise." said the genin.

"Alright then...just don't kill any more people and I'll be willing to give you another chance." answered Tsunade, noticing the mark of his peace on his arm.

"Yes, of course!" nodded Kimimaro.

It was good to see that Orochimaru's minions were leaving his side. More often than not, people felt that they should do something other than assist a certain snake ninja in his crazy plans.

However, she also got the feeling that something terrible had happened to four (or five) of them...though she wasn't quite sure what.

"Alright then...the exams are right this way." said Tsunade.

Immediately, the trio entered the room and sat on three desks.

Oddly enough, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi happened to be there as well.

"How's your class going?" inquired Naruto.

"Pretty good. My substitute teacher was pretty nice...my mentor Ebisu should be back today..." said Konohamaru.

"So that's why you were taking lessons from that female jonin..." noted the genin.

"Yeah...she mastered three elemental jutsus..." nodded the apprentice.

"Wow..." said Naruto.

Suddenly, someone blew a spitball at Konohamaru.

"Agh!" exclaimed Konohamaru.

As it turned out, Momoo and two of his friends were there as well. Even while they were at class, they still wanted to torment Konohamaru.

"We're going to pulverize you in the exams!" exclaimed Momoo.

"Oh no..." said Naruto's apprentice. Something told him that this exam wasn't going to be fun.

Then again, going into a forest that was seemingly designed by the Ten-Tailed Beast itself to be as deadly as possible, maybe the Chunin Exams weren't his idea of fun to begin with.

Once again, the proctor was Ibiki Morino.

"The rules for this are going to be rather simple. You just need to answer ten questions to the best of your ability and be on with it. After thirty minutes, there's going to be a secret question." said the jonin.

"What's with the chunin standing in the chairs?" asked Udon.

"Oh, that...you see, if they catch you cheating, they're going to kick you out of here. I suggest you don't try it...it's easier to catch than you might think. Believe me, I've caught people doing it no less than a dozen times." spoke Ibiki.

"At least...not unless you happen to have a jutsu that allows you to cheat..." thought the jonin.

"But this test is so hard! And I don't see what they have to do with being a ninja!" complained Konohamaru.

"Just do the best you can." answered the man.

"Fine..." answered the genin.

_A few minutes later..._

Lucy was having a surprisingly easy time answering the questions. Granted, she had thought that they were going to be hard at first, but she turned out to be wrong.

"Who is the Fifth Hokage? That's an easy question..." noted Tsunade as she began to write down the answer.

Due to the fact that Naruto was now Lucy's interdimensional partner, he was now having a much easier time answering the questions than he was before.

"Thank goodness...last time I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to pass because I couldn't answer any of the questions." noted the genin.

As for Kimimaro, he was able to answer some...others he didn't have the answer to.

"Who was the First Hokage? How am I supposed to know the answer for that? I haven't been here for too long." noted the bone ninja.

Konohamaru unfortunately was not able to answer any of the questions, much like Naruto before him. In fact, he could not even answer the question asking who the Third Hokage was...which he should know.

"My head hurts..." said the genin, clutching his head.

"Mine too..." nodded Udon, moaning in pain.

"Ugh..." murmured Moegi. How long was this test going to be?

"This test is making your head hurt? Good! You're not going to be able to pass! But I'd love to see you try!" exclaimed Momoo.

"But you're not able to answer any of the questions e-"

"Shut up!" bellowed the leader of The Sorority to his subordinate.

As it turned out, many of the students had fallen asleep. Apparently, this class was already starting to bore them.

Then again, maybe they weren't as excited about becoming chunin than they probably should have been.

"Sheesh...I think Shikamaru would feel right at home here..." noted Naruto.

"I bet he would." nodded Lucy.

As she did so, she began to think about him.

"Oh, Shikamaru, look at your perfect body..." thought the kunoichi.

Suddenly, she remembered that she needed to focus on the exam.

"Oh, right...can't daydream now, can I?" asked Lucy.

Suddenly, one of the chunin threw a kunai at Momoo's test.

"Huh?" inquired Momoo.

As it turned out, he had been caught looking at Lucy's test answers.

"Momoo!" bellowed the kunoichi, taking the test paper away from his eyesight.

"Shame on him." thought Naruto.

"Momoo, you get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!" bellowed Ibiki.

Immediately, one of the chunin opened the door for Momoo and his friends.

Throwing a temper tantrum, he left the building along with his two teammates. He was going to have to try again in four months.

"This isn't fair! I deserved to be a chunin more than anyone else here!" exclaimed the school bully.

"Somehow, I don't think that is true." answered Konohamaru.

"He doesn't like failing exams, does he?" inquired Lucy.

"Well, neither do I." noted Naruto. He was rather disappointed when he found out that he couldn't become a chunin because Orochimaru ruined the exams and killed the Third Hokage.

"Doesn't he know that's the oldest trick in the book?" thought Ibiki. Personally he was hoping that he would be a bit smarter than that.

Konohamaru then began to laugh. After the way he had treated him earlier, he almost felt like throwing a party.

Maybe he could invite his teammates?

"Well, it looks like he isn't going to become chunin. Cheaters never prosper." noted Naruto.

"It's true, he's not. And yes, they don't." answered Lucy.

"Thank goodness we didn't have to cheat, huh?" asked the genin.

"Please keep your voices down." said Ibiki.

"Sorry!" apologized Naruto.

_Around thirty minutes later..._

"Alright, I think you've had enough time to answer the questions. Now it's time for you to do as I say." spoke Ibiki.

"What is it?" inquired the genin.

"I want you all to say "Tsunade is a stupid moron with an ugly face and a big butt and her butt smells and she likes to kiss her own butt!" Understood? Do you read me loud and clear?" asked Ibiki.

"What?!" bellowed Naruto and Lucy in unison.

"You want us to say that?!" exclaimed Konohamaru.

"You want us to insult the Fifth Hokage?!" bellowed Udon.

"You want us to insult our great leader?!" screamed Moegi.

"Huh?" asked Kimimaro.

Konohamaru sighed. There was no way he was going to be able to say something like that. His grandfather was once Hokage, after all.

"Well, we tried. I guess we'll just have to try again in four months." said the genin as he left the classroom along with Udon and Moegi.

"You're right...we can always try again..." nodded Udon.

"I look forward to it." agreed Moegi.

Much to Konohamaru's surprise, he found Naruto, Lucy, and Kimimaro to have done the same thing.

"Huh? You gave up on the exam too?" inquired Naruto's apprentice.

"Considering that she once saved my life, I don't think I can say that about her. I do call her Grandma regularly, don't I?" said Naruto.

"How can I say that about her? She took me in after I got stranded in Naruto's world. She even let me go out on missions. That's how I managed to bond with Shikamaru..." answered Lucy.

"Considering that she was willing to give me a second chance after everything I've done...I don't think I can say that about her, either." explained Kimimaro.

Suddenly, Kakashi and Ebisu approached their pupils.

"Can we help you?" inquired Naruto.

"Just wanted to let you know that you managed to pass the first part of the exam." said Ebisu.

"Yes!" cheered Konohamaru.

"Woohoo!" exclaimed Udon.

"Hooray!" shouted Moegi.

"Wait, how did we do it?" asked Naruto's apprentice.

"I take it this was another secret test of character?" inquired the genin.

"Yes, it was." nodded Kakashi.

"Right, of course. A real ninja wouldn't say that about the Fifth Hokage, right?" asked Lucy.

"No, they would not." answered Ebisu.

"So, the Forest Of Death is next, right?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes. You remember, correctly." nodded Kakashi.

"Alright then. Let's go, shall we?" asked the genin.

"Right..." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, the six went to the Forest Of Death. Once again, Anko Mitarashi happened to be there.

"Um..." murmured Naruto.

"Hey there, everybody! Ready to have nightmares for the rest of your life? This forest isn't for babies, kids!" inquired Anko.

Konohamaru began to shiver.

"For the next one hundred and twenty hours...you're going to be in a forest...of death! Prepare to die!" exclaimed the jonin.

Udon began to scream.

"Mind you, you already did sign a contract that indicated that you would be risking life and limb, did you not? We're not responsible for you getting horribly slaughtered." asked Anko.

Moegi began to cower in fear.

"Yes, we did. That contract specifically said that we were going to risk getting ourselves brutally killed...and that the animals would love eating our flesh." nodded Naruto.

"Good! Go out there and get yourself killed! I'm looking forward to it!" exclaimed Anko.

"She doesn't mean that...right?" asked Lucy.

"I hope not. Then again, she doesn't usually mean the things that she says. She just likes scaring people." answered the genin.

"It's true, I do...it's so much fun." answered Anko.

"Are you a horror movie fan?" asked Naruto.

"I sure am!" exclaimed the jonin.

"You were Orochimaru's apprentice, were you not?" inquired Kimimaro.

"Yes, I was...why do you ask?" inquired Anko.

"Well, so was I..." answered the bone ninja.

"What a coincidence..." said the jonin.

"So, what scroll are we going to get this time?" inquired Naruto.

"Well, since you're such a hero, you get to have the Scroll Of Heaven." answered Anko.

"How ironic." answered the genin. Somehow, he got the feeling that when he died he wasn't going to Hell.

He wondered if Hinata was going to have a special place in Heaven considering how incorruptible she was.

"Hmm..." thought Naruto.

Immediately, she handed Naruto, Lucy, and Kimimaro the Scroll Of Heaven.

As she did so, she noticed how similar Naruto and Lucy looked.

She then jumped to conclusions.

"You didn't tell me you had a twin sister, Naruto!" exclaimed Anko.

Immediately, she began to stare at Lucy.

"We're not related! I'm an only child!" bellowed Naruto.

"Me too..." nodded Lucy.

"You are? What a coincidence..." noted the genin. Then again, he had heard that his father was still alive...which is more than he could say for his.

"Yeah..." answered the jinchuriki. Again, she was starting to wonder why she and Naruto looked the same.

Was it some twist of fate?

"If you're not brother and sister, then why do you have the same mark on your palms?" inquired the jonin.

Immediately, she held out both of their right hands.

"We're interdimensional partners...it's a long story involving two worlds..." answered Lucy.

"Alright then...I was just wondering. Go out and get yourself killed!" exclaimed Anko.

"Right, of course. Whatever makes you happy. We'll come back to you as ghosts. And then we're going to haunt your house. Oooooo." said the genin.

Anko began to giggle. She actually enjoyed Naruto's sense of humor. Maybe she should get a genin team of her own some day.

"Make sure to call the Ghostbusters if that happens." suggests Lucy.

Naruto, Lucy, and Kimimaro immediately entered the forest along with Team Ebisu.

"So, what do we need to do?" asked the kunoichi.

"We need to find somebody with a Scroll Of Earth...and try not to get ourselves killed while we're at it." answered the genin.

"Right, of course." nodded Kimimaro. It wouldn't do them much good if they got killed trying to make their way to the central tower.

Suddenly, they were attacked by a bear.

"Oh dear...here comes one of those ferocious animals..." noted the genin.

Naruto sighed. Why were they so many vicious animals in the Forest Of Death? He was starting to wonder if it had been tainted by some evil force.

Considering that Orochimaru liked hanging out in this forest, maybe it was in fact tainted by some evil force. It wouldn't surprise him, that was for sure.

Disturbingly, the bear's claws happened to be covered with blood. Had it already ran into another ninja before he and his friends had got there?

If so, he was feeling sorry for them. Hopefully they were going to have a nice afterlife...or find a good doctor.

Fortunately, they were able to defeat the bear without getting injured, though they were still traumatized nonetheless. Naruto hurled a Rasengan at the bear's face, causing him to pass out.

"Huh, I actually didn't suffer clothing damage this time..." answered Naruto. Apparently, he got lucky.

"You can say that again..." spoke Lucy, who had gone from being in her ninja outfit to being in her pink tube top and miniskirt.

"Oh dear...do you want to go clothes shopping when we're done? Maybe we could get you some spare outfits." spoke the genin.

"That does sound tempting." answered Lucy. Why didn't she ever think of that? Maybe Naruto was just as smart as she was...

...he just tended to be more ditzy.

Unfortunately, Naruto's fortune was short-lived. Not long after the incident, Naruto found his shirt being torn off by a tiger, who began chewing on it in his mouth.

"This is the second time a cat has ripped off my shirt..." noted Naruto.

"It has?" inquired Lucy.

"Don't worry about it too much. I go shirtless all the time." answered Kimimaro.

"It's true, you do. You must have a lot of fangirls..." spoke the genin.

"Yes, I do." nodded the bone ninja.

**"Why can't I have fangirls?" **inquired Kurama.

A few minutes later, they noticed that that there was a team of ninja knocked out on the floor.

Apparently, they had opened their scroll before they were supposed to.

"That wasn't very smart, was it?" inquired Lucy.

"It's true. You're not supposed to open the scroll before you reach the central tower. Otherwise you get knocked out." said Naruto.

Immediately, Kimimaro closed the scroll.

He then gasped in surprise.

"What is it?" inquired the genin.

"This is the Scroll Of Earth..." said the bone ninja.

"Well, isn't this fortunate for us?" inquired Naruto.

"They also have a Scroll Of Heaven...shame that they opened a scroll when they did...otherwise they might have won." noted Lucy.

"Yeah...I feel sorry for them. They were so close." noted the genin.

"At least we shouldn't have a problem getting to the central tower now..." answered Kimimaro.

"But we might get ambushed..." questioned Lucy.

"Good point. I guess we should stay alert." noted Naruto.

As it turned out, they did get ambushed...but it wasn't who they were expecting.

"Konohamaru? Is that you?" inquired the genin.

Incidentally, he had the Scroll Of Earth.

"Naruto?" asked Konohamaru.

"Are you looking for a scroll?" inquired Lucy.

"Yeah..." nodded Naruto's apprentice.

"OK then." answered Naruto.

Immediately, he handed Konohamaru the Scroll Of Heaven.

"Thanks for helping me with the Chunin Exams...but what about you?" inquired the apprentice.

"We had a spare, so we decided that you should have it." answered Lucy.

"Oh...do you want to team up? I think we'll have a lot easier time that way if we work together." asked Konohamaru.

"Sure, why not. We both have our scrolls, so I think everyone's happy." nodded Naruto.

"What happened to your shirt?" asked Udon.

"It got ripped off...again..." explained Naruto.

Curious, he noticed that Moegi was staring at his torso when he said that.

"What happened to your ninja uniform?" asked Konohamaru.

"It got ripped off. Lousy clothing damage..." answered Lucy.

Curious, she noticed that Udon was staring at her torso when he asked that...though admittedly she had her jinchuriki mark on her abdomen.

Together, they headed towards the central tower.

Using the two pair of scrolls, they summoned Kakashi and Ebisu respectively.

"You finished the test rather quickly. It only took you six hours." noted the jonin.

Suddenly, the duo noticed each other.

"Hmm?" inquired Ebisu.

"We decided to make an alliance with Konohamaru since we had a spare Heaven scroll..." explained Naruto.

"You sure got lucky then." acknowledged Kakashi.

"It's true, we did." nodded the genin.

"What happened to your shirt?" asked Ebisu.

"It got ripped off...yet again." answered Naruto.

Ebisu immediately handed Naruto a new shirt.

"Thank you." said the genin.

Granted, the shirt happened to be pink...but real men wore pink.

"What happened to your ninja uniform?" inquired Kakashi.

"That got ripped off too..." said Lucy.

Kakashi immediately handed Lucy another ninja uniform.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

**"Aw, man!" **complained Kurama.

"Well, I guess we'll wait for everyone else." said Kimimaro.

"How long is it going to be?" questioned Naruto.

Immediately, Kakashi handed Naruto a summoning scroll.

"You can use this to come from between the central tower and outside the Forest Of Death. Make sure to come back within five days." said the jonin.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Naruto.

"It's a good thing we anticipated the possibility of ninja finishing the test early." noted Ebisu.

"It's true, it was." nodded Kakashi.

Immediately, the trio used the summoning scroll to warp themselves out from the Forest Of Death.

"You got the scrolls? Already?" asked Anko.

"Yes, we did." answered Naruto.

"Congratulations! You three are monsters!" exclaimed the jonin.

"Um...I guess." spoke Lucy.

"I look forward to seeing you at the preliminaries!" shouted Anko.

"Yeah..." nodded Kimimaro.

Immediately, they went to go tell their friends the good news.

In this case, it was Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji.

Speaking of Shikamaru, he was showing off his new letter magic to his friends.

"How are you doing that?" asked Ino.

"I used an interdimensional portal..." explained Shikamaru.

"An interdimensional portal?" inquired Choji.

"Yes, I did." nodded the shadow ninja.

"You mean like the one Sakura used?" questioned the psychic kunoichi.

"Yes." nodded Shikamaru.

"Huh. All of a sudden I want to use an interdimensional portal too...I wonder what abilities I get." answered Choji.

"Mind you, it's not all good. When Hinata ended up using the interdimensional portal, she ended up inheriting Natsu's motion sickness. Likewise, when Sakura used the interdimensional portal, she ended up becoming a stripper like Gray." explained Shikamaru.

"She became a stripper?" inquired Ino.

"She has a habit of taking off her clothes in public now." answered the shadow ninja.

"Wow..." answered the kunoichi.

"I also inherited Lucy's tendency to suffer clothing damage." said Naruto.

Shikamaru turned around.

"Hey there, Naruto. Sorry to hear that..." answered the shadow ninja.

"I also inherited Naruto's bloodthirsty nine-tailed fox...though that's not all bad." spoke Lucy.

**"You don't say?" **inquired the nine-tailed fox.

"Yeah...I believe you already mentioned that." noted Shikamaru.

"I'm a bit more hesistant to use that portal now..." answered Choji.

"Me too..." nodded Ino.

"It might be beneficial, it might not." noted Shikamaru.

"That's true." nodded Lucy.

"Oddly enough I don't have an interdimensional partnet yet..." noted Kimimaro.

"You probably don't need one..." answered Shikamaru.

"Maybe not." answered the bone ninja.

Still, Ino and Choji were rather curious what was on the other side of the interdimensional portal.

"We'll...see you later." said Ino.

"We're...not going to do much." answered Choji.

"I don't usually do much either, so go ahead." answered Shikamaru.

Shortly afterwards, he began to read a book.

"What are you reading?" asked Lucy.

"I'm reading a book about the Chunin Exams...they've been around since the ninja village began." said the shadow ninja.

"How ironic, we're working on our Chunin Exams right now..." noted Lucy.

"Huh? Oh yeah...the chunin exams are today." noted Shikamaru.

"I hope that I'll get to become a chunin this time!" exclaimed Naruto.

"So will I." nodded Kimimaro.

"Good luck then." answered Shikamaru.

"Who should we visit next?" inquired Naruto.

"Hinata, perhaps?" asked Lucy.

Naruto nodded.

Sure enough, she was with Kiba and Shino. She was in fact lifting a tree out of the ground, much to her surprise.

"You didn't tell us you were this strong, Hinata." inquired Shino.

"That's because I'm a dragonslayer now." answered Hinata.

"Oh...I guess you could give Sakura a run for her ryo then." noted Kiba.

"Arf!" exclaimed Akamaru.

"Yes, I could." nodded the kunoichi.

"Hey, Hinata!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Huh? Hi, Naruto!" bellowed Hinata.

"So, are you showing your dragonslayer abilities to your friends? I know that Shikamaru is showing his..." answered the genin.

"Yeah...I actually showed them to my jonin teacher...she was rather impresesd." noted Hinata.

"You sure have gotten a lot stronger..." acknowledged Naruto.

"Yes, I have." nodded the kunoichi.

"You think you're the strongest member of your team now?" inquired the genin.

"I just might be...I haven't actually sparred with any of them yet though." noted Hinata.

"Oh, right..." nodded the genin.

"So, what have you been up to?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Oh, I signed up for the Chunin Exams." answered Naruto.

"The Chunin Exams?" inquired Hinata.

"I wanted to see if I could become a chunin this time. Orochimaru ruined everything." noted the genin.

"Yes, he did." nodded the kunoichi. She began to pout. It wasn't fair for everyone that worked so hard to get to the preliminaries in the first place.

"Hopefully the Hokage isn't going to get assassinated this time and everything's going to be happy." answered Hinata.

"Arf!" exclaimed Akamaru.

"Yeah...Konohamaru signed up for the exams too. He's in the preliminaries along with me." answered Naruto.

"Is he now?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Yeah...now we're waiting for everyone else to show up...or lose horribly." said the genin.

"I see." nodded Hinata.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do until then." noted Naruto.

"That is a stumper." nodded the female dragonslayer.

"I'll see you later!" exclaimed the genin.

Immediately, Naruto left along with Lucy and Kimimaro.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, you can manipulate shadows now?" asked Droy curiously.

"Yes, I can. I'm giving the name of our team a whole new meaning." nodded Levy.

"It's true you are." acknowledged the plant ninja.

"I wish I could do that." answered Jet.

"I got that ability after I used that interdimensional portal...someone else came and I inherited his abilities." said the letter mage.

"All of a sudden I want to use the interdimensional portal too..." spoke Jet.

"Do you now? Mind you, I also inherited being a slacker from him...nowadays I'm having trouble staying awake." answered Levy.

Immediately, she began to yawn.

"Sorry to hear that..." said Jet.

"Oddly enough, I can actually do something with my shadow that he could not..." noted the kunoichi.

"You can?" asked Droy.

Suddenly, Levy's shadow began to move around on its own.

"It's like having a friend that never goes away. Heh heh. Then again, it is kind of creepy." answered the letter mage.

"You mean like us? We always hang around with each other..." asked Jet.

"Yeah, kind of like you two..." explained Levy.

Immediately, Levy's shadow handed her a book.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the letter mage.

Levy's shadow immediately waved at her.

"I might want to test out these new shadow abilities of mine...they sound like they'll come in handy when we next go on a mission." answered the letter mage.

"We haven't done one in a while, haven't we?" inquired Jet.

"Well, we ended up being clobbered the last time we went on a mission...and the time before that." answered Droy.

"It's true, we did...we did manage to destroy that Jupiter Cannon though." pointed out Levy.

"Oh, right." nodded Jet.

"Thank goodness our guild didn't get blown up..." noted the letter mage.

"Yeah..." agreed Droy.

"I'll see you two later." answered Levy.

Immediately, she left the guild hall.

"Alright then...you want to try out the interdimensional portal?" inquired Jet.

"I'm with you!" exclaimed Droy.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, this is the interdimensional portal?" inquired Ino.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Choji.

Sure enough, the interdimensional portal was in sight. In fact, they were standing a few feet away from it.

Suddenly, Jet and Droy stepped out of it.

"Hmm?" inquired Choji.

Strangely enough, the duo reminded them of themselves.

Immediately, they went to explore their surroundings.

Shrugging, Ino and Choji decided that they wanted to enter the interdimensional portal as well.

"Ladies' first?" inquired Choji.

"Alright." nodded Ino.

Immediately, she entered the interdimensional portal right before Choji.

Sure enough, they began to notice their surroundings.

"So, this is the world of magic, huh?" inquired Ino.

"It sure is a nifty place." noted Choji.

Immediately, they stepped outside so that they could admire their surroundings.

"This does remind me a bit like home..." answered the psychic kunoichi.

"Well, it's not quite the same." acknowledged the chubby ninja.

"That's true." nodded Ino.

All of a sudden, they began to notice Fairy Tail guild marks appearing on their bodies.

"Huh?" inquired Choji.

Oddly enough, they both had a guild mark in the exact same position.

"How very odd." noted Ino.

"You think we're becoming someone's interdimensional partner?" asked Choji.

"Oh right...that's part of the reason we decided to come here, wasn't it?" inquired the kunoichi.

"That's right...we wanted to try out being an interdimensional partner for ourselves." noted the chubby ninja.

"Yeah...heh heh." answered Ino.

"I wonder what we got?" inquired Choji.

Suddenly, he noticed that somebody had left a picnic backet on a table nearby.

"I wonder who left that there?" asked the chubby ninja.

"You think anybody wants it?" inquired Ino.

"Probably not. I don't see anybody. I suppose we could go check what's inside." answered Choji.

"Should I go get it or do you want to get it?" inquired Ino.

"It's your choice." answered the teenage boy.

"I'll go get it then. I don't want you to work out too much. You need your weight for your jutsu!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"I'm so glad you understand me..." answered Choji, rubbing his stomach.

Suddenly, Ino ran towards the picnic basket at lightning-speed. She then ran towards Choji a few seconds later.

"Alright, here's the picnic basket!" exclaimed the kunoichi as she handed it to Choji.

Choji gasped in surprise.

"Huh?" asked Ino.

"How'd you get there and back so fast?!" bellowed the chubby teenager.

Ino had ran so fast, she had left behind a trail of smoke...which disappeared before Choji could point it out to her.

"I don't know..." answered the now speedy kunoichi.

"You're an interdimensional partner, alright." noted Choji.

"But whose yours?" inquired Ino.

Suddenly, a plant began sprouting from Choji's hand.

"Well, I certainly have a green thumb now..." acknowledged the chubby teenager.

"Wow, you sure do." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, they decided to head back to the world of ninja. Their brief stay was an eventful one, and they wanted to go back home before too long.

They were going to have quite a story to tell their sensei.

_At the world of ninja..._

"You know, I can't help but shake the feeling that someone used the interdimensional portal when we did." answered Jet.

"What makes you say that?" inquired Droy.

"Well, I feel a bit...different." noted the speedy ninja.

"Really?" asked the plant mage.

Suddenly, Droy began to swell up like a balloon.

"Droy! You're swelling up!" exclaimed Jet.

"Huh? What is that gum I ate a few minutes ago? I heard that some packs were tainted..." noted the plant mage.

Curious, he decided to see if there was something he could do.

Thankfully, he could turn himself back to normal.

"What was that all about?" inquired Droy.

"I don't know..." answered Jet.

Suddenly, Jet felt the urge to put his hands together.

"Huh?" thought the speedy mage.

Curious, he did so, and he ended up entering Droy's body.

"So this is like inside Droy's body...why has he gotten so fat?" inquired Jet.

"I heard that!" bellowed Droy.

Jet left Droy's body a few seconds later.

"Whoa..." answered the teenage boy.

"How were you able to do that?" inquired Droy.

"I don't know...I put my hands together and I found myself in your body." spoke Jet.

"Did you now? It was a rather weird experience..." answered the plant mage.

"Yes, it was. Imagine if I tried that with Levy." noted the speedy mage.

Jet and Droy's cheeks turned red.

"Right...well, I guess we're going to have a story to tell Levy when we get back home." answered the speedy mage.

"We sure will!" exclaimed the plant mage.

Immediately, the duo entered the interdimensional portal so that they could go back home.

_A few minutes later..._

Choji and Ino were rather satisfied to how their trip to the world of magic had turned out.

"I feel like a superhero now..." noted the Akimichi ninja.

"I feel like a superheroine." agreed Ino.

"I wonder if anyone got access to our abilities? I believe that the interdimensional portal works both ways." acknowledged Choji.

"Yes, it does." nodded the psychic kunoichi.

"So, what do you want to do now?" inquired the Akimichi clan member.

"Maybe go for a jog?" suggested Ino.

"Maybe..." answered Choji.

Suddenly, she noticed that there were several missions available for pizza delivery.

"Pizza...delivery..." thought the kunoichi.

Suddenly, she got an idea.

Immediately, she began to sign up for the missions.

"You sure you should be accepting so many missions at once? And why did that lightbulb suddenly appear on top of your head?" inquired Choji.

"Don't worry, I'll be able to handle every single one of them. As for the lightbulb...I'll use it to light up my house." answered Ino.

"You think you can bring a pizza for me? I'm hungry." asked the Akimichi ninja.

"Of course I can! Don't worry about it!" nodded the Yamanaka ninja.

"Thanks." answered Choji.

She became back about fifteen minutes later.

"Wow! You really completed those missions rather quickly." noted the chubby ninja.

"That's because I have super speed now..." answered Ino.

"Oh, right." nodded Choji.

Sure enough, Ino now had a pizza of her own.

"Do you want to dig in?" inquired the Akimichi ninja.

"Yes!" exclaimed Ino.

Immediately, the duo began to eat the pizza.

_Meanwhile..._

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. He somehow got the feeling that Levy was no longer the only interdimensional partner among her team in Fairy Tail.

"Hmm..." thought the ninja.

Curious, he decided that he wanted to go investigate.

Immediately, he entered the interdimensional portal.

Sure enough, Erza was there waiting for him.

"Don't we have a lot of visitors these days..." noted the knight.

"I'm looking for Levy." said Shikamaru.

"Hmm?" inquired Erza.

"She's my interdimensional partner." spoke the shadow ninja.

"Alright then." nodded the knight.

Sure enough, Levy was nearby.

"Can I help you?" asked the kunoichi.

"I can't help but shake the feeling that your teammates have become interdimensional partners too..." said Shikamaru.

"Oh, really? They did seem eager to use that interdimensional portal..." noted Levy.

Immediately, she began to fall asleep.

"Deja vu..." murmured Shikamaru.

Gently, he shook Levy awake, trying not to fall asleep himself.

"What? Oh, sorry." apologized the letter mage.

At that very moment, Jet and Droy came by.

"Are you back from your trip?" asked Levy.

"Yes, we are." nodded the speedy mage.

"However, we're not quite the same..." answered the plant mage.

"My suspicions have been confirmed." said the shadow ninja.

"Do you have any new powers?" inquired Levy.

"I think so, yeah." nodded Jet.

"Me too." acknowledged Droy.

"Would you care to explain them to me?" asked the letter mage.

"Well, I can transfer my mind to others now..." explained the member of Team Shadow Gear.

Shikamaru gasped in shock.

"I can expand my body like a balloon and turn myself into a wrecking ball..." spoke Droy.

Shikamaru gasped in shock once again.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Levy.

"Those are the abilities of my teammates..." spoke Shikamaru.

"So, your teammates are the interdimensional partners of mine now? What a coincidence..." answered the leader of Team Shadow Gear.

"I know..." nodded the Nara clan member.

"You think you should go talk to them?" asked Levy.

"Yes." answered Shikamaru.

Immediately, he went through the interdimensional portal to go visit Choji and Ino.

"I wonder whose going to become an interdimensional partner next?" inquired Levy.

Jet and Droy shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as ours." answered Jet.

_A few minutes later..._

"Hey, Ino and Choji! I've got something to tell you!" exclaimed Shikamaru.

Curious, he noticed that they were sharing a pizza together.

"How sweet..." thought the shadow ninja.

"Yeah?" asked Ino.

"I think that you and Choji are interdimensional partners now..." said the shadow ninja.

"Really? That's what we thought. We're not sure who they are though." answered the Akimichi clan member.

"Well, you know how I'm Levy's interdimensional partner now?" inquired Shikamaru.

"I believe that you mentioned that to us...why do you ask?" asked Ino.

"I think that you're the interdimensional partners of her teammates..." said the shadow ninja.

"Oh...that explains it." answered Choji.

"So, which one of you is Jet's interdimensional partner and which of you is Droy's?" questioned Shikamaru.

"Well, I've been awfully fast lately..." spoke Ino.

"And I've been able to grow plants from my hands..." answered Choji.

"Well then...Ino, you're Jet's interdimensional partner, and Choji, you're Droy's interdimensional partner..." explained Shikamaru.

"Interesting...maybe we should go visit them..." noted the psychic kunoichi.

"Right...we'll do that once we finish this pizza." answered the chubby teenager.

Immediately, he grew a vine from his palm and held it in front of Ino's mouth so that she could eat it.

"Thank you, Choji!" exclaimed Ino as she began to bite down on it.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds to your own devices now." said Shikamaru as he left to go tell his sensei the news.

He was going to want to hear about this.

"That was one tasty pizza." answered Choji.

"Should we go get some more? This new pizza delivery job is mine is paying pretty well..." noted Ino.

"Are you the employee of the month yet?" asked the chubby teenager.

"Yes, I am." nodded the kunoichi.

"Congratulations!" exclaimed Choji.

Immediately, he and Ino began to make out.

_A few more minutes later..._

"Greetings, Shikamaru! How are you doing?" inquired Asuma.

"Well, I used the interdimensional portal fairly recently...and so did my teammates." said Shikamaru.

"Did you now?" asked the jonin.

"Due to its magic, my teammates and I have new tricks up our sleeves." explained the Naru clan member.

Immediately, he began to write down the word "Ice".

Shortly afterwards, the word "Ice" appeared...which of course was made from ice.

"Very interesting..." answered Asuma.

"I should probably keep a writing utensil with me at all times from now on." noted Shikamaru.

"I would imagine so..." nodded the jonin.

"My teammates were affected by the interdimensional portal too...Ino is now super-fast...and Choji now has control over plants..." said Shikamaru.

"So, you're a lot stronger than before?" inquired Asuma.

"We sure are. I'll have to adapt our battle plan accordingly." noted the shadow ninja.

"Right, of course. I wonder if I should use the interdimensional portal myself..." acknowledged the jonin.

"Well, it is rather tempting..." spoke Shikamaru.

"Maybe some other time. I've got another date with Kurenai." noted Asuma.

"Yes, of course." nodded the shadow ninja.

Asuma Sarutobi immediately left to go on his date with Kurenai.

"Is Team Guy going to start becoming interdimensional partners next? I can't help but shake the feeling that they're going to want to use that portal too..." acknowledged Shikamaru.

To think that it had been about two months ago that this had started.

"Are there more than two worlds out there? I'm pretty eager to know how many worlds there are." noted the shadow ninja.

_Meanwhile..._

Might Guy had a rather important announcement to make for Team Guy.

"Is there something you wish to tell us?" asked Rock Lee.

"You're going to be overseeing the Chunin Exams preliminaries." said Might Guy.

"We are?" asked Tenten.

"I figured you would be ideal for the job..." spoke the jonin.

"Yes, of course." nodded Neji.

"You think you can handle it?" inquired Might Guy.

"Yes, we can." answered the Hyuga clan member.

"Alright then! I'll be seeing you there!" exclaimed the jonin.

Immediately, the three of them headed towards the Forest Of Death.

"You sure we can get through it safely?" inquired Rock Lee.

"We already did this a long time ago...we didn't get hurt too much." noted Neji.

"It's true, we didn't." acknowledged Tenten.

Immediately, the trio went through the Forest Of Death and towards the Central Tower.

"Is this it?" asked Rock Lee.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Neji.

Sure enough, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi were waiting inside. They were bored out of their minds.

"I can't believe we're going to have to wait here so long..." noted Konohamaru.

"Yeah..." nodded Udon.

"We did get through the exam rather quickly." acknowledged Moegi.

"How'd you get here so fast?" inquired Rock Lee.

"We made an alliance with Naruto." explained Konohamaru.

"That makes sense." nodded Neji.

"Wasn't he the guy that beat you up during the Chunin Exams finals?" inquired Tenten.

"It's true, he was. And yet, I owe him for it." noted the Hyuga clan member.

"Weird." acknowledged Rock Lee.

"Just four more days...just four more days...I can wait that long...right?" inquired Konohamaru.

"We probably can't..." answered Udon.

Moegi sighed.

"Just try not think about the exams too much. Try to relax." spoke the martial artist.

"Right, of course." nodded Konohamaru.

Immediately, he took a deep breath.

"You think we can do this?" asked Udon.

"If you believe in yourself, yes." answered Tenten.

Moegi began to smile.

"Right...just four more days...four more days..." said Konohamaru.

_Meanwhile..._

"Well, I'd have to say I enjoyed that." noted Anko. It was always so much fun to scare little children.

Suddenly, she noticed what appeared to be a group of people dressed as pirates entering the forest.

They were lead by what appeared to be a man dressed as a pirate captain, oddly enough.

"Hey there! Are you here for the Chunin Exams?" inquired Anko.

"Yarr! I sure am! Let me through, ye landlubber!" exclaimed the man dressed as a pirate captain.

"Alright then. Go on ahead." answered the jonin, handing the captain the Scroll Of Earth since he had called her a landlubber.

Immediately, he entered the forest along with the pirate cosplayers.

"Why were they dressed like that? I don't think it's time for Halloween yet...which is a shame since that is my favorite holiday." noted Anko.

Shortly afterwards, he noticed a man carrying a kunai.

"Hey there! Can I help you?" asked the jonin.

"I'm going to kill in there!" exclaimed the man.

Immediately, he pointed to the Forest Of Death.

"Aren't you a little psychopath! I applaud you! You're giving the Forest Of Death a whole new meaning!" exclaimed Anko.

The man with the kunai began to smile.

"Alright then, you're free to go. Have fun trying to become a chunin!" cheered the jonin.

Since she thought that he was an angel (due to the strange way her mind worked), she handed the man the Scroll Of Heaven.

Shortly afterwards, she noticed a green interdimensional portal.

"Huh? Is this one of the interdimensional portals everyone's talking about?" inquired Anko.

As it turned out, yes it was.

"Finally, now I can get my revenge on those meddlings kids." said a man as he stepped out of the interdimensional portal.

Oddly enough, Anko noticed that he appeared to have two snow golems with him.

This made her rather confused. Wouldn't they melt out in the sun?

"Are you here for the Chunin Exams?" asked the jonin.

"Hmm? I...guess...I'm kind of new here." answered the man.

"Welcome to Konoha!" exclaimed Anko.

Immediately, she handed the mysterious man a Scroll Of Heaven, unaware as to what he wanted to do to Naruto and his friends.

"Since you remind me of the Grinch...who I find to be angelic...you can have this." answered the jonin.

"Um, thanks." answered the man from the other world.

Immediately, he entered the forest along with his snow golems.

"Aren't we have a diverse set of chunin seekers these days...one of them's from another world! How about that!" exclaimed Anko.

Shrugging, she decided to simply welcome the chunin seekers as they came.

_So, is this a good opportunity to end the chapter? Personally I think so._

_In the next chapter, Naruto and his friends are going to be facing some of their old adversaries...try to guess which ones._

_You should probably know already._


	32. Chapter 32: Vengeance

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, some of the villains that Naruto and Lucy have encountered in the past are going to return...and guess what? They want revenge!_

_Thankfully, Kimimaro is going to be able to help them out, along with Team Guy. Isn't that nice?_

**Chapter 32: Vengeance**

After waiting for about four days, Naruto and Lucy were both rather excited.

"Isn't this great? We're finally going to get to become chunin!" exclaimed the genin.

"Aren't we going to have to pass the preliminaries first?" inquired Lucy.

"Oh, right...heh heh heh. Of course." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, Naruto pulled out his summoning scroll.

"Right...where is Kimimaro?" inquired the boy.

"Over here." answered the bone ninja.

"Hey there!" exclaimed Lucy.

Immediately, Naruto pulled out the summoning scroll and was transported to the tower.

Oddly enough, there didn't seem to be many people there.

"So...what happened to everyone else?" asked the genin.

"We actually don't have a lot of competitors this year..." explained Kakashi.

"Oh..." answered Naruto.

Suddenly, he noticed that Team Guy was up in the balcony with them.

"Huh?" asked the genin.

"They're here to oversee the exams...Might Guy thought this would be a good experience for them..." noted Kakashi.

"Oh...I was wondering if they were here for the exams too..." answered Naruto.

"They already passed their exams a long time ago." explained the jonin.

"Alright then." nodded the genin.

Team Guy waved at Naruto.

"So, who am I going to be facing for the preliminaries?" questioned the genin.

"Let's find out." answered Kakashi.

Immediately, the random ninja generator began to scramble.

"Come on, come on." said Naruto.

He couldn't wait to find out.

However, as it turned out, he wasn't going to.

Suddenly, someone busted down one of the doors to the tower.

"What the-" exclaimed Naruto.

"Yarrr!" bellowed a certain pirate captain.

"Oh no! It's Captain Bloodbeard!" screamed Lucy.

"That's right, lass! I'm here for my revenge!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard.

"Revenge? That doesn't sound good..." noted Kimimaro.

"First Orochimaru, now this?!" exclaimed Kakashi.

Suddenly, one of the pirates stabbed him in the back while he wasn't watching.

"Coward..." murmured the jonin as he passed out. How could he have been defeated so easily? He thought he was stronger than that.

Then again, the pirate hadn't exactly fought fair.

Konohamaru passed out as well. He was very frightened of the situation, and it was simply too much for him to handle.

Likewise, Udon and Moegi did the same.

"Oh no! Sensei Kakashi!" exclaimed Naruto.

Shortly afterwards, the pirates began to swing their swords at Lucy.

Fortunately, she happened to be pretty good at dodging enemy attacks. In retaliation, she summoned a pixie.

"Hey, listen! Hey, listen!" exclaimed the pixie.

"Aah!" bellowed one of the pirates.

"Make it stop!" screamed another pirate.

"That should keep them busy for a while..." noted Lucy.

Immediately, the trio jumped off the balcony so that they would have more room to fight the pirates with.

"There sure are a lot of them, aren't they?" inquired Kimimaro.

"Why are they after you?" asked Naruto.

"I got them arrested..." explained Lucy.

"I see..." answered the genin.

Immediately, the pirates began to attack the trio with their swords.

Fortunately, Team Guy were ready to help.

Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee began to attack the pirates, punching, kicking, and tossing kunai at them.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed the pirates.

"I guess I should enter the frey meself, me thinks." noted Captain Bloodbeard.

Immediately, the pirate captain jumped down.

Unfortunately, he happened to have some new tricks up his sleeves since their previous encounter.

He shot bubbles at the trio, hoping to encase them inside.

In Naruto's case, he ended up being trapped.

"Not again! Let me out of here!" bellowed the genin. This brought back bad memories.

Already, his face was starting to turn blue.

Fortunately, it was Lucy to the rescue.

Naruto immediately gave Lucy a hug.

"Thank you..." said the genin.

"You're welcome, Naruto." answered Lucy.

**"Darn it! I was hoping that he would die!" **exclaimed Kurama.

"Be nice to Naruto, nine-tailed fox." said the teenage girl.

"Are ye two brother and sister?" inquired the pirate captain.

"How many times are people going to ask us that..." answered Naruto.

"No, we're not. We are interdimensional partners, though." explained Lucy.

Suddenly, another door to the tower opened.

"Who is it now?" asked the genin.

"I'm going to kill you!" exclaimed a certain psycho.

"Oh no...not him too." answered Lucy.

"Who is this time?" inquired Naruto.

"It's Takeshi...he's a psycho I encountered on my first day of being in the world of ninja..." explained the kunoichi.

"Oh." answered the genin.

Immediately, Takeshi jumped down the balcony to where the trio were fighting.

Suddenly, he noticed the invading pirates.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked the psychopath.

"State yer side, landlubber!" exclaimed Captain Bloodbeard.

"I'm here to kill them!" bellowed Takeshi, pointing to the trio.

"I guess we're on the same side then, landlubber." said the captain.

"Yay!" cheered the psycho.

Immediately, Captain Bloodbeard handed Takeshi a pirate's hat so that he could be a honourary pirate.

"Oh no...they're making an alliance!" exclaimed Naruto.

"This isn't good." answered Lucy.

Pulling out a small machine gun, Takeshi began to shoot at Naruto and Lucy, who leapt out of the way.

This was then followed by Captain Bloodbeard sending a miniature tidal wave towards Kimimaro.

Thankfully, he was able to block it.

Fortunately, Tenten was able to pin Takeshi to the wall using six kunai.

"Ouch, ow, oof, aah, ooh, and eek!" exclaimed the psychopath.

"That should keep him busy." said Tenten.

Unfortunately, Takeshi was slowly making his way free.

"I might want to cut down the horde of pirates while he's occupied..." noted the ninja archer.

Likewise, Neji was attacking Captain Bloodbeard, who was swinging his sword to keep him away.

"Get away from me, landlubber! Or I'll make ye walk the plank!" exclaimed the captain.

"But there isn't a plank here..." answered Neji.

Captain Bloodbeard sweatdropped.

Suddenly, two snow golems crashed through the wall.

"Uh-oh, more trouble!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Who is this time?" asked Lucy.

"I have a pretty good idea." answered the genin, suddenly remembering his mission back at Icevale.

As it turned out, it was Ebemener Scourge.

"Hey there! Are you here to kill Naruto and Lucy?" inquired Takeshi.

"How do you know our names?" asked Naruto.

"I read the first chapter of the fanfic!" exclaimed the psychopath.

Lucy sweatdropped.

"I'm here to kill the blonde-haired boy...why do you ask?" inquired Ebemener Scourge.

"Yay! We're on the same side!" exclaimed Takeshi.

Captain Bloodbeard nodded.

Shrugging, he decided to make an alliance with the duo. The more the merrier, right?

"Man...our rogues gallery really have it out for us today." noted Lucy.

"They sure do..." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, the snow golems began to attack Naruto and Lucy.

This time, it was Rock Lee and Kimimaro's turn to be heroes.

"Wait...weren't you the guy I squared off against about two and a half years ago?" inquired Rock Lee.

"Yes...but I'm not working with Orochimaru anymore." explained Kimimaro.

"I worked with the guy that once shattered my arm and leg for that battle...so fair enough." answered the martial artist.

Kimimaro shrugged. It was surprising how many people were leaving the side of darkness these days.

Then again, that wasn't a bad thing.

Unfortunately, Ebemener Scourge had a few new tricks up his sleeve too.

One of the snow golems tossed a snowball at Naruto and Lucy, who leapt out of the way.

Unfortunately, evil snowmen began to come out of the snowball.

"My evil minions are making minions of their own! I'm a grandparent!" exclaimed Ebemener Scourge.

"That's not good." answered Naruto.

Immediately, the evil snowmen began to attack them, trying to claw their eyes out.

Suddenly, Takeshi pulled out a grenade launcher.

"I'm going to blow you up!" bellowed the psychopath.

Immediately, he began to launch several grenades at Naruto and Kimimaro.

"Thanks for warning us!" exclaimed Naruto.

Tenten tossed a paper bomb at Takeshi, ironically enough. What better way to fight a foe than to make them taste their own medicine?

"Wah!" bellowed the psychopath.

Tenten then summoned an iron wall to help protect herself and Naruto from the psychopath.

"So...we attack the trio two against one then?" inquired Naruto.

"Sounds like a plan." nodded Tenten.

Fortunately for Kimimaro and Rock Lee, they were able to defeat the snowmen somewhat easily.

However, Ebemener Scourge was about to summon another golem.

"This time I'm going to be summoning an Earth Golem!" exclaimed the former mayor of Icevale.

Immediately, an Earth Golem emerged from the ground.

"This isn't good...he's getting reinforcements!" exclaimed Rock Lee.

The Earth Golem tossed a boulder at the duo, who were forced to leap out of the way.

The boulder shattered, and plant creatures began to emerge from it.

"Uh-oh..." answered Rock Lee.

"I made this golem out of dirt I found in the forest south of here..." explained Ebemener Scourge.

"That explains it, I guess." answered Kimimaro.

Immediately, he slashed one of the snow golems, causing a gash to appear on its chest.

It tried to punch him in retaliation, but Kimimaro sliced its arm off too.

However, more snowmen were appearing out of the snow golem's severed arm.

"I might want to aim for the head..." noted the bone ninja.

As for Captain Bloodbeard, realizing that Neji's eyes were his source of strength, he summoned his pet parrot to go for the eye.

"Patchy, hit him in his eyes! He can't use his Byakugan if he's gone blind, the landlubber!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard.

"Why do you keep calling me landlubber?" inquired Neji.

Immediately, Patchy began to attack Neji.

He tried hitting him with his Gentle Fist, but unfortunately Patchy was rather agile. In fact, he had become much faster than his last encounter with Lucy and her friends.

"Darn it! Why won't you hold still?" inquired Neji.

Suddenly, Lucy tossed a Rasengan at the captain.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Captain Bloodbeard.

Apparently, he didn't want such a nasty attack to hit him.

In retaliation, he lunged at Lucy with his sword.

"Get away from me!" bellowed Lucy, pulling out her whip.

Immediately, she began to strike Captain Bloodbeard with it.

"Ouch! That stings, lass!" bellowed the captain.

"Yes, I know." answered Lucy.

In retaliation, Captain Bloodbeard began to pull out a gun.

A blunderbuss, to be precise.

"I'm going to shoot ye now, lassie!" bellowed the captain.

"Uh-oh..." thought Lucy.

Immediately, he began to open fire at Lucy, who was forced to duck for cover.

"That's one powerful gun." noted the kunoichi.

"I wish I had that gun." complained Takeshi.

At that very moment, several pirates began to attack her, preventing her from helping Neji at the moment.

Speaking of Takeshi, he was trying to find a way to get past Tenten's iron barrier...unaware that he could simply walk around it.

"I know! I'll smash it with a sledgehammer!" exclaimed the psychopath.

Immediately, he began to smash the iron wall with a sledgehammer.

"I wonder why he gives us a warning before he tries to kill us..." noted Naruto.

Tenten shrugged.

"Well, it does make things a lot easier for us." acknowledged the genin.

"I guess we shouldn't dwell on it then." answered Tenten.

From behind the iron barrier, the kunoichi tossed a paper bomb at Takeshi, causing him to fall down.

"Oof!" bellowed the psychopath.

In retaliation, he pulled out a rocket launcher.

"Die! Die! Die!" exclaimed Takeshi.

Immediately, he began to shoot at the iron barrier.

"Something tells me this isn't going to hold forever." answered Naruto.

"No, it's not...we need to fight back." spoke Tenten.

"Yes, of course." nodded the genin.

Kimimaro slashed the head off of one of the snow golems.

Though this lead to more evil snowmen being spawned, this caused the snow golem to collapse completely.

"Darn it! Well, I guess I'll just have to summon another golem now..." answered Ebemener Scourge.

Suddenly, Rock Lee punched the former mayor of Icevale in the nose.

"Ouch! How dare you!" exclaimed Ebemener.

In retaliation, he hit Rock Lee on the head with a cane.

"Ow!" bellowed the martial artist.

He then began to summon a water golem.

"Let's see you punch and kick this!" exclaimed Ebemener.

Unfortunately, Rock Lee wasn't able to use taijutsu to attack the water golem effectively, as it was made of...well, water.

Suddenly, the water golem grabbed onto Rock Lee's head and began to drown him.

"Agh! Let go!" exclaimed the martial artist.

"This is almost too easy now..." said Ebemener Scourge.

Suddenly, Kimimaro grabbed onto Rock Lee, freeing him from the water golem's grip.

"Thanks..." said Rock Lee, wiping off his face.

"You're welcome." answered Kimimaro.

Unfortunately, Kimimaro's sword slashes weren't having much of an effect on the water golem either.

"Maybe I need to try something else..." answered the bone ninja.

"Give it up! You will never defeat my water golem!" exclaimed Ebemener Scourge.

"We'll just see about that..." said Kimimaro.

Immediately, he began to summon a Tyrannosaurus.

A rather thirsty Tyrannosaurus.

Suddenly, he began to drink up the water golem.

"What-no no no no!" bellowed Ebemener Scourge.

It then tried to eat Ebemener Scourge next.

Unfortunately, he summoned a magic barrier to defend himself.

"Thank goodness I flipped through a few pages of my spellbook..." noted the sorceror.

"So close..." murmured Kimimaro.

This was then followed by Ebemener Scourge casting a polymorph spell, turning the Tyrannosaurus Rex into a chicken.

"Bawk bawk bawk bawk!" exclaimed the chickenfied Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Kimimaro let out a sigh.

"At least it took care of the water golem..." answered the bone ninja as he dismissed his polymorphed summon.

_Meanwhile..._

"Hey there, Hinata!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Hi there, Natsu!" answered Hinata.

"Is this a friend of yours?" asked Kiba.

"This is my interdimensional partner!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Oh...so that's where you got your fire powers from..." explained Shino.

Hinata nodded.

"Yeah...it was an accident, really..." answered Natsu.

"Yes, it was." agreed the kunoichi.

"An accident?" inquired Shino.

"Well, when I used the interdimensional portal...I wasn't aware that someone else was going to use it, too..." explained Natsu.

"Yeah..." nodded Hinata. Likewise, she wasn't aware that doing so was going to make her inherit Natsu's fire magic.

"Interesting..." noted the bug user.

"Should we try using the interdimensional portal?" questioned Kiba.

"Maybe...mind you, you don't know what powers you're going to get..." noted Hinata.

"It's true...also, you might also inherit someone's weakness...I appear to have inherited Hinata's initial lack of self-confidence..." noted Natsu.

"Yes, we know..." nodded Kiba.

"Really? You seem fairly confident right now..." acknowledged Hinata.

"Well, Shino did say that it was going to wear off eventually..." spoke the fire mage.

"Oh yeah...you also mentioned something about inheriting Natsu's motion sickness..." noted Kiba.

"Yes, I did." answered the fire mage.

"It's something that's been plaguing dragonslayers for years, unfortunately. Hinata's the latest victim." explained Natsu.

"Yes..." nodded Hinata.

"That's unfortunate..." answered Kiba.

"Oddly enough it doesn't seem to take effect when I leap around like a kangaroo..." noted the fire mage.

"That's a relief." said Shino.

"Yeah...life surely wouldn't be the same if I couldn't do that..." answered Hinata.

"So, how do you think Naruto and Lucy are doing in the Chunin Exams? We already passed ours over a year ago..." noted Shino.

"I would imagine that they're doing fine." answered Kiba.

"Arf!" exclaimed Akamaru.

"Well, we can always hope." noted Hinata.

"You think someone's going to interrupt the Chunin Exams again?" questioned Shino.

"Probably." nodded the female dragonslayer.

"Why do people keep doing that? Just look at what happened the last time there was an exam..." said Kiba.

_Two ninja were standing in the ninja arena, ready to try to send their opponent to the hospital._

_Unfortunately, their battle was interrupted by something._

_Suddenly, a man wearing a cowboy hat entered the arena._

_"Who are you?" inquired one of the ninja._

_"I'm Buck Horace, Texas Ranger! The man whose going to burn this place to the ground!" exclaimed Buck._

_Immediately, he roundhouse kicked one of the ninja, causing him to be vaporized._

_"Aah!" screamed another ninja._

_He leapt out of the arena...but unfortunately Buck Horace leapt thousands of feet into the air in order to chase him._

_He roundhouse kicked one of the ninja, and vaporized him too._

_"Mwahahaha!" exclaimed Buck Horace._

_"Oh dear..." murmured one of the audience members._

_This was going to be a very bad day._

"Did they manage to take him down?" asked Natsu.

"Yes...but it took six jonin." answered Kiba.

"Six jonin?!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"And a grizzly bear." answered Hinata.

"A grizzly bear?!" bellowed Natsu.

"Yes, a grizzly bear. I'm not sure why he wanted to help us...but we should probably thank him." noted the female dragonslayer.

"Yeah..." nodded Shino.

"Sheesh." murmured the fire dragonslayer.

"They say that they locked him away at a maximum security prison...where only the worst of ninja end up going." noted Kiba.

"Wow." answered Natsu.

"I don't think we want to go there." said Shino.

"It's true, we don't." nodded Hinata.

"Well, it was nice talking to you guys!" exclaimed Natsu.

Immediately, he began to head back to the interdimensional portal.

"Good to see you again, Natsu!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, she waved him goodbye.

"Good to see you again too, Hinata!" bellowed Natsu.

Hinata smiled.

Natsu jumped through the interdimensional portal, leaving Hinata and the rest of Team 8 alone.

"You think we'll see him again?" asked Kiba.

"I hope so. He's my buddy!" exclaimed Hinata.

"I'm looking forward to seeing him too...even if he is a fire mage that could burn my bugs." answered Shino.

"Well, I suppose I'll pay him a visit in the future if I want to talk to him." answered the kunoichi.

"Sounds good." nodded the bug user.

"So...what do you want to do?" inquired Hinata.

"Go watch the Chunin Exam finals, I suppose." answered Kiba.

"But those aren't in a month..." pointed out Shino.

"Oh, right...of course." nodded the dog user.

"I guess we're going to have to play the waiting game then..." noted Hinata.

Akamaru frowned.

"Yes, I know...it's a long wait." answered the fire dragonslayer.

_Meanwhile..._

Realizing that he could simply go over the barrier rather than try to destroy it, Takeshi elected to use a rocket launcher to send him flying into the sky.

"Whee!" exclaimed Takeshi.

Of course, he ended up hurting himself in the process. But at least he would be able to attack Naruto and Tenten now.

"Uh-oh!" bellowed Tenten.

And to make matters worse, he landed on Naruto's head.

"Ouch! My head!" exclaimed the genin, falling on the floor.

Immediately, he began to rub his head.

Takeshi then pulled out a kunai.

"I'm going to stab you!" exclaimed the lunatic.

Frantically, Naruto tried to avoid getting stabbed.

However, Takeshi ended up getting backstabbed himself.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the ninja.

Unfortunately, he was smart and was wearing a ninja vest to help protect himself from kunai.

In retaliation, he pulled out a paper bomb and tossed it at Tenten.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Fortunately, the paper bomb didn't hurt her too much. She was rather lucky.

In retaliation, she pulled out another scroll.

This time, she summoned a large flame dragon.

"Alright! It's barbecue time!" exclaimed Naruto.

Realizing that he was in danger, Takeshi decided it was best to keep his distance.

He jumped up onto the balcony so that he could avoid the flame dragon.

He then pulled out a sniper rifle.

"Boom! Headshot!" exclaimed Takeshi.

Immediately, he aimed the crosshair at Naruto's head.

"Uh-oh!" bellowed Naruto.

Frantically, he began trying to avoid being shot.

At that very moment, the flame dragon exploded, knocking Takeshi off his feet.

"Oof!" bellowed the psychopathic man.

However, he was quickly able to help himself to his feet.

At that very moment, Tenten had prepared another scroll.

"Let's see how he likes this." spoke the kunoichi.

Immediately, several kunai began to rain on top of Takeshi, who began trying to avoid them.

"Aah!" exclaimed the psychopath, covering his head.

."Looks like we're winning..." noted Naruto.

"I could use a little help here..." answered Takeshi.

At that very moment, Ebemener Scourge's remaining snow golem began to stomp towards Naruto and Tenten.

"Well, maybe not anymore." noted the genin.

The snow golem let out a roar, knocking Naruto and Tenten off their feet.

This was then followed by the golem trying to crush them underneath its foot.

Immediately, Naruto and Tenten rolled out of the way.

Takeshi then hopped on top of the snow golem. Apparently, he wanted to use it as a mount.

"Yes! Attack!" exclaimed the deranged man.

Immediately, the snow golem began to create a snowball.

"Got any more scrolls?" inquired Naruto.

Tenten pulled out a scroll and began using it to chain up the golem.

"Hey! Let him go!" demanded Takeshi.

Unfortunately, it appeared that it wasn't going to hold the snow golem for long, as it was very strong.

"I guess we're going to have to hit him with everything we've got." noted Naruto.

Immediately, he pulled out a summoner key.

"Where did you get that, Naruto?" inquired Tenten.

"From a very nice girl." answered the genin.

"Was it Hinata?" asked the kunoichi.

"Good guess, but no." answered Naruto.

Immediately, he summoned Scorpio.

"Hey there! Can you whip us a sandstorm for us?" asked the genin.

"Yes!" nodded the scorpion man.

Immediately, a sandstorm blinded Takeshi and his snow golem, the latter of which had managed to break free from his restraints.

Naruto then followed by firing a Rasengan at the snow golem, causing it to melt.

"Nooooo!" exclaimed Takeshi.

"Well, that takes care of it..." answered the genin.

Unfortunately, evil snowmen began to form out of the snow golem's melted body.

"Yes!" cheered the psychopath.

Tenten sighed. Things couldn't be that easy, now could it?

Meanwhile, Neji was still fighting against Patchy.

"Pretty bird, pretty bird!" exclaimed the parrot.

"Shut up!" bellowed Neji.

Immediately, he punched Patchy in the face, causing him to fall on the floor.

"Finally! I'm covered with scrapes here..." noted the jonin.

"Oh dear...his mate isn't going to be happy you did that..." answered Captain Bloodbeard.

"Huh?" inquired Neji.

Taking off his hat, he revealed another parrot underneath.

"Her name's Peaches! Get him, Peaches!" exclaimed the captain.

Unfortunately, Peaches was even more aggressive than her mate...though this may have had to do with the fact that he had punched out her mate earlier.

"Not again!" exclaimed Neji.

As if one ferocious parrot wasn't bad enough.

"Hahaha!" bellowed Captain Bloodbeard.

Meanwhile, Lucy was dealing with Bloodbeard's pirate crew.

"How many pirates are in this crew?" questioned Lucy as she continued fighting off the pirates.

"Quite a few, actually." answered one of the pirates.

"Well, that isn't exactly good news for me..." noted Lucy as she began to whip the pirates into submission.

**"Remind me not to sail the seven seas..." **murmured Kurama.

"Why would you need a boat? You're huge!" exclaimed Lucy.

**"And yet, apparently I'm small enough to fit inside your abdomen..." **answered the nine-tailed fox.

"Yeah...I'm not quite sure how the seal works." noted the kunoichi.

Speaking of foxes, she had summoned some of them of her own.

"Why don't you make some friends?" inquired Lucy.

**"I don't need friends...though admittedly I do appreciate the thought." **spoke Kurama.

"Ah well..." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, the foxes began to attack the pirates.

"Avast!" exclaimed one of the pirates.

Once again, they found themselves being attacked by animals.

Curious, Lucy decided to see if she could summon a big one. She remembered that she had signed a contract with Gamabunta...

...but that was her trump card. She didn't want to play it now.

She decided to see if she could summon another giant creature.

As it turned out, she could do so. She ended up summoning a giant bee.

She was a bit surprised at the occurrence.

"Um, hi there? What's your name." inquired the kunoichi.

"Vespa." answered the giant bee.

"Pleased to meet you." noted Lucy.

"What do you need help with?" asked Vespa.

"I need you to attack these pirates...they're bloodthirsty." explained the kunoichi.

Immediately, the queen bee began to shoot beeswax at the pirates.

"Aaugh!" bellowed one of the pirates.

"Let us go!" exclaimed another pirate.

Unfortunately, summoning a bee that big was making her feel a little woozy. The bigger the summon, the more chakra she needed.

Also, she needed to sacrifice more blood inside her body.

"Thanks for the help." said Lucy.

"Do you need anything else?" inquired Vespa.

Curious, she noticed that some of the pirates were helping their friends break free.

"You wouldn't happen to be able to summon more bees, could you?" asked the kunoichi.

Vespa laid an egg.

"Thank you." answered Lucy.

The egg hatched, releasing a swarm of bug larva.

"Well, hopefully I should be less outnumbered now..." noted the kunoichi.

Suddenly, one of the foxes began to scratch themselves. The bee larva wanted to rest in their fur.

"No no no no. They're our friends. Don't infest their bodies." ordered Lucy.

The bee larva immediately left the foxes.

"Would you mind if I rode on your back for a while? I'm a little exhausted after summoning a creature that big..." asked the kunoichi.

Sure enough, she was starting to yawn.

Vespa nodded.

Lucy immediately hopped on the giant bee's back.

"Let's tell them to buzz off, shall we?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Was the pun intended?" asked Vespa.

"Heh heh...I didn't notice it." answered Lucy.

After the snow golem had gone off to help Takeshi (as he was getting pulverized), Kimimaro decided to deal with the earth golem, since it was still attacking them at the moment.

He began to slash and cut the earth golem. Though admittedly swords weren't the best weapon against the earth golem, slash marks were appearing on it nonetheless.

This was followed by Kimimaro pulling out one of his bones and using it as a drill.

"Hopefully this will make taking down the earth golem easier..." noted the bone ninja.

Unfortunately, the earth golem punched Kimimaro away, causing him to hit his head against a wall.

He began to rub the back of his head.

"OK...this golem might be tough..." noted Kimimaro.

At that very moment, Rock Lee decided to open one of his gates.

"Here comes the Gate Of Opening." said Rock Lee.

Immediately, he roundhouse kicked the Earth Golem.

Of course, if he was a normal human being, he would likely end up shattering his leg again.

But since Rock Lee had activated his first gate, he could now use all his muscle strength, and he actually managed to knock the earth golem down.

Ebemener Scourge was not amused. He had just seen his remaining snow golem get melted by Naruto's Rasengan.

"No more games! Kill!" exclaimed Ebemener Scourge.

Immediately, the coal golem launched a fireball at Rock Lee, burning him.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot!" bellowed the martial artist.

"Funny...that's what my fangirls typically say to me." noted Kimimaro.

In retaliation, Kimimaro drilled into the earth golem, causing it to crumble into dust.

Of course, the plant creatures summoned by the creature still remained. They began to sting Kimimaro with some sharp thorns.

Thankfully, they didn't hurt much, though they stung nonetheless.

"Ugh!" exclaimed Kimimaro.

"Persistent, aren't you?" inquired the mayor.

Immediately, he launched a polymorph spell at Kimimaro, hoping that would turn him into a chipmunk.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the stronger the target was, the more resistant they were to the spell. Kimimaro was only turned into a chipmunk for five seconds.

"Darn it! I guess I'm going to have to be faster next time..." noted Ebemener Scourge.

"Why do I feel like eating an acorn?" questioned Kimimaro. His memories were actually rather fuzzy of the event.

"You got turned into a squirrel..." explained Rock Lee.

"It was a chipmunk, actually." answered Ebemener Scourge.

Rock Lee shrugged.

Unfortunately, it appeared that he wasn't able to attack the coal golem at the moment, since it was blazing hot.

So, he decided to attack the plant creatures instead.

However, they started to tangle him up in vines.

"Let go!" exclaimed Rock Lee.

Eventually, he was unable to break his way free.

So, he decided to activate his second gate.

This time, it was the Gate Of Healing.

With two of his gates now opened, he was now able to break free from the plant creatures' grip.

He then finished them off with some more of his martial arts.

He let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness." said the martial artist.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, you're the ones that happen to be our interdimensional partners?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yes...we decided to pay you a visit." answered Levy.

"Well, that was nice of you." replied Ino.

"So, which one of you inherited my super speed?" asked Jet.

"I did!" exclaimed the psychic kunoichi.

"Are you enjoying it?" asked the speed mage.

"Yes, I am. I can actually use to rival Sakura's super strength now..." noted Ino.

"I thought you two were friends..." said Choji.

"We still are, we still are...we just like to duel every once in a while." answered the Yamanaka clan member.

"Oh, that makes sense." nodded the Akimichi clan member.

"I duel with Droy all the time..." answered Jet.

"We're the best of bros!" exclaimed Droy.

"You mean like Choji and I?" inquired Shikamaru.

"The resemblances to us are uncanny..." noted Levy.

"Yes, I know...we were like this before we used the interdimensional portal..." acknowledged the shadow ninja.

"How very odd." agreed the bookworm.

"This is a bit confusing..." noted Droy.

"Well, I suppose everyone in the world of magic might have a double somewhere." acknowledged Levy.

"That would make sense..." nodded Shikamaru.

"Personally Lucy reminds me of Sakura..." noted Ino.

"Yeah..." acknowledged the shadow ninja.

"Does she happen to be rather smart too?" inquired Levy.

"Yes, she's pretty smart. I don't think I could ever beat her in a Konoha trivia challenge..." answered Ino.

"Hmm..." noted the bookworm.

"Then again, she's also pretty aggressive...I heard that she once tossed Naruto off a building..." spoke Choji.

"That's terrible." answered Droy.

"Don't worry, he survived...albeit with a few broken bones." noted Shikamaru.

"I feel sorry for Naruto..." said Jet.

"Me too..." nodded Ino.

"Maybe Sakura should sign up for some anger management classes." spoke the shadow ninja.

"Agreed." nodded Levy.

"Then again she does seem to be rather relaxed now..." noted Shikamaru.

"That's because she's Gray's interdimensional partner now." explained the letter mage.

"Oh, right..." answered the Nara clan member. Gray was always laid back, wasn't he?

"So, are you researching our world again?" inquired Shikamaru.

"As a matter of fact, I am. I wanted to figure out who your leader was..." answered Levy.

"It's Tsunade...one of the Legendary Sannin." explained the shadow ninja.

"The Legendary Sannin? Interesting..." noted the letter mage.

"Yes, that's her." answered Shikamaru.

"Who are the other two?" questioned Levy.

"Well, there's Jiraiya and...Orochimaru." said the shadow ninja.

"Jiraiya and Orochimaru?" inquired the letter mage.

"We don't usually talk about the latter much...he's a maniac." explained Shikamaru.

"I see..." nodded Levy.

"Of course nowadays, we seem to be dealing with a man whose an even bigger threat than he is...still, I don't think we want to cross paths with him." answered the shadow ninja.

"You're right...I bet he's up to something horrible as we speak. Maybe even another attack on Konoha." noted Choji.

_Meanwhile..._

Orochimaru was currently sleeping.

"Zzz..." murmured the snake ninja.

As it turned out, he was dreaming about him and Kabuto.

"There you are!" exclaimed Orochimaru.

This particular dream involved making out with Kabuto.

"Oh, Kabuto...you're such a good kisser..." said the snake ninja.

Suddenly, he woke up with a start.

Shortly afterwards, he began to scream.

"I've got to stop spending so much time with Kabuto!" exclaimed Orochimaru.

"Master, is something the matter?" asked Kabuto from a distance.

"No no no! I'm alright!" bellowed the snake ninja.

Kabuto immediately left.

Orochimaru let out a sigh of relief.

"Maybe I'll go hang out with Medusa Gorgon instead. She looks lovely...and we share the same interests." noted the snake ninja.

He decided that he was going to do so now.

_We now return to Ino-Shika-Cho and Team Shadow Gear..._

"Well, thanks for the information. I think I'll call it a day." said Levy.

"Glad that we could help!" exclaimed Choji.

"See you later!" bellowed Ino.

Levy, Droy, and Jet immediately entered the interdimensional portal.

"It was nice meeting our interdimensional partners." noted Choji.

"Yes, it was." nodded Ino.

"Well, I suppose I'm looking forward to seeing them again." agreed Shikamaru.

Immediately, Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru went to go on another mission.

They were all looking forward to it.

_Meanwhile at the Fairy Tail guild hall..._

"Hey there, Gray? Can I ask you a question?" inquired Juvia.

"Sure, why not." answered the ice mage.

"Do you want to hang out sometime? Juvia would be looking forward to it." said the water mage.

"Are you asking me on a date?" asked Gray.

"We can go on a date...if you want to." spoke Juvia.

"Well, you haven't been stalking me lately...so sure." answered the ice mage.

"Yes!" cheered Juvia.

"What did you have in mind?" inquired Gray.

"Just a fancy place called The Nautilus." asked the water mage.

"Funny...that does sound like a place you would want to go to." acknowledged the ice mage.

"I actually got a reservation there!" exclaimed Juvia.

"You did? You must really have prepared firsthand..." answered Gray.

"Juvia sure did!" exclaimed the water mage.

"Why do you keep talking in third-person?" asked the ice mage.

"I'll stop." answered Juvia.

"I didn't say that was a bad thing...I was just curious." spoke Gray.

"I can stop talking that way. It's not a big deal." spoke the water mage.

"I was just wondering!" exclaimed the ice mage.

"I guess I just like the sound of my own name..." answered Juvia.

Gray shrugged.

"Maybe Gray should start doing that from now on..." noted the ice mage.

"There's no pressure!" exclaimed the water mage.

"But Gray likes the sound of his own name..." answered Gray.

Juvia shrugged.

"So...how far is the restaurant from our current location?" inquired the ice mage.

"Just a few miles." answered the water mage.

"Really? That's not too far from here." noted Gray.

"Yes, I know." nodded Juvia.

Immediately, the duo set out to The Nautilus.

Oddly, Erza happened to be the waitress.

"Why are you the waitress?" inquired Gray.

"I'm doing a low-rank mission..." explained Erza.

"But you're an S-Class Mage..." answered Juvia.

"Well, there aren't any S-Class Missions at the moment...besides, I look great in this outfit!" exclaimed the knight.

Sure enough, Erza was wearing a rather attractive-looking waitress uniform that showed off her legs.

"Well, I will admit that you have a point there..." said Gray.

The water inside Juvia's body began to boil.

"But I still think Juvia is prettier!" exclaimed the ice mage.

The water inside Juvia settled.

"So, you're on a date with Juvia? I should have seen that coming considering how close she is to you..." noted Erza.

"Yeah...it was only a matter of time." nodded the devil slayer.

"I'll say. So, what would you like?" inquired the kunoichi.

"Something cold, I suppose...maybe a drink with ice?" asked Gray.

"Juvia would like some water..." answered Juvia.

"I'll be back in a jiffy." said Erza.

"You know...part me is actually enjoying this. Juvia's a lot easier to deal with now that she's stopped stalking me." thought Gray.

"Yes! I'm finally on a date with Gray! This is the best day of my life! Let's hope that we don't have to break up..." thought Juvia.

_Back at the Central Tower..._

Takeshi pulled out a flamethrower and swung it at Tenten and Naruto, hoping to cook them.

"Burn baby burn!" exclaimed the psycho.

Unfortunately, Tenten did end up getting burned. She wasn't cut out for close-ranged combat, it seemed.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Thankfully, the burns weren't life-threatening.

This was then followed by Takeshi punching Tenten in the face.

"Ow..." murmured Tenten, rubbing her face. He sure packed a mean punch.

"I don't want to burn." answered Naruto.

Immediately, he summoned Aquarius to attack Takeshi and hopefully put his flamethrower. It was worth a shot as any.

Then again, Aquarius usually wasn't in the mood to help him.

"Can you help me?" asked the genin.

"Why should I?" inquired Aquarius.

Suddenly, Takeshi walked up to the Celestial Spirit.

"Huh?" asked the water spirit.

"I'm going to kill you!" exclaimed the psychopath.

Immediately, he tried to stab Aquarius with a kunai.

This did not do him any favors. At all.

"That's it! It's go time!" exclaimed the Celestial Spirit.

Immediately, she began to whip up her speciality...an enormous tidal wave.

"Uh-oh!" bellowed Takeshi.

Aquarius hit Takeshi with a tidal wave, causing him to scream.

"Help!" exclaimed the psycho.

He was caught in the tidal wave, sending him flying.

He hit his head on the wall...and was knocked out cold.

"Phew...what a fight." noted Tenten.

"Yeah...it was a doozy." nodded Naruto.

"But at least we managed to prevail." said the kunoichi.

"Yes, we did." agreed the genin.

Suddenly, Aquarius and Scorpius began to make out with each other.

"Huh? Are you two lovers?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes, we are." answered Aquarius.

"Aww...how sweet." spoke the genin.

"And if you excuse us we're going to have some alone time." said the water Celestial Spirit.

Immediately, Aquarius and Scorpius vanished in a burst of yellow smoke.

"I guess we'll be seeing them later." answered Naruto.

"I guess so." nodded Tenten.

Meanwhile, Lucy had successfully managed to defeat Captain Bloodbeard's jolly crew.

Now all that was left was the captain himself...as well as his remaining parrot.

Immediately, Lucy hit Peaches with her whip, knocking her out cold.

Neji let out a sigh of relief. Who would have thought that he would be attacked by two parrots on the same day?

"Uh-oh." answered Captain Bloodbeard.

Getting even with the pirate captain for all the injuries he and his parrots had inflicted upon him.

Letting out a war cry, Neji went up to Captain Bloodbeard and started hitting him with his Gentle Fist technique.

"Yarrr!" exclaimed the pirate captain as he experienced the power of Neji's fists first-hand.

He unfortunately could not withstand such a vicious assault, and he passed out on the ground.

"Did we take him down?" asked Lucy.

"Yes, we did." nodded Neji.

Sure enough, he was unconscious. Neji's Gentle Fist had done its job well. He wasn't going to get back up any time soon.

"Well, alright then...I guess we should take him back to our prison camp..." noted the kunoichi.

"That sounds like a plan." nodded Neji.

Rock Lee hit Ebemener Scourge's coal golem after activating his Gate Of Life, causing his skin to turn red in the process.

This caused it to shatter instantly.

Unfortunately, Ebemener Scourge has run out of magic to summon golems with.

"This isn't good..." answered the former mayor of Icevale.

He then found himself being hit by Rock Lee's martial arts, knocking him out cold.

With Ebemener's defeat, his remaining evil snowmen melted.

Rock Lee deactivated his gates a few minutes later. Wouldn't want to destroy his own body now.

"Phew...I'm glad that it's finally over..." answered the martial artist.

"Yes, it is." nodded Kimimaro.

Konohamaru suddenly woke up from his slumber.

"Huh?" asked Lucy.

"What happened?" inquired the genin.

"You passed out during an invasion..." said the kunoichi.

"Oh...is the invasion over?" asked Konohamaru.

"I believe so, yes." answered Lucy.

Konohamaru let out a sigh of relief.

At that very moment, Kakashi woke up as well.

"You thought you could take me down that easily? I'll cut you up with my Lightning Blade and-"

Suddenly, he noticed that all the pirates were defeated.

"Oh. Never mind, then." answered Kakashi.

"Thank goodness everyone's OK..." said Lucy.

"Yes, we are." answered Naruto.

"It was nice working with you." said Rock Lee, shaking Naruto's hand.

"Wait...what happened to everyone else?" inquired Lucy.

"I guess they fleed once they realized how hairy things have gotten...I don't blame them." answered Kimimaro.

"So, are the Chunin Exams cancelled?" asked Naruto.

"Not necessarily...whose left?" inquired Kakashi.

Udon, Moegi, and Konohamaru raised their hands.

Likewise, Lucy, Naruto, and Kimimaro raised their hands as well.

Three ninja who had stuck around to witness the action raised their hands. It was a rather impressive fight, and they had in fact been betting money on it.

"I guess you're our nine finalists then." answered Kakashi.

Immediately, the nine began to cheer.

"Right...normally we would be hosting the finals after a month...but due to the attack we're going to have to cut the exams short." answered Kakashi.

As such, the finals were going to be tomorrow.

"I can't wait!" exclaimed Naruto.

Immediately, he left along with Lucy and Kimimaro.

Likewise, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi did the same.

A few minutes later, jonin arrived to take the criminals away.

"Sheesh...who would have thought that we were going to get attacked here?" asked Kakashi.

At least Naruto and his friends were able to mop up the attackers without suffering any casualties.

Still, he got the feeling that their problems weren't over and that another attack was underway.

"I guess I'll have to be more careful this time..." noted Kakashi.

This time, he was going to look behind him.

_Were you expecting this? Captain Bloodbeard, Takeshi, and Ebemener Scourge all attacked our heroes._

_I'm afraid things aren't over for them though. In the next chapter, they're going to get attacked by their female adversaries...along with a certain vampire._

_Can you guess who they are? They've already appeared once before in the fanfic...then again, you can probably figure it out by process of elimination. Captain Bloodbeard, Takeshi, and Ebemener Scourge won't be coming back for a while._


	33. Chapter 33: Ladies' Night

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, more of our heroes' rogues gallery are going to return...can you guess who they are?_

_Oh, and the Chunin Exam finals are going to take place! Hooray!_

**Chapter 33: Ladies' Night**

Naruto, Lucy, and Kimimaro headed to the Chunin Exams arena. Oddly enough, it happened to be as sandy as ever.

"It looks like we didn't have to play the waiting game this time." noted the genin.

"It's true, we didn't." answered Lucy.

"Isn't that just dandy." noted Kimimaro.

Sure enough, the Chunin Exam finals were about to take place.

However, they noticed that hardly anybody seemed to be present.

"Hmm?" inquired Naruto.

As it turned out, most of Konoha's residents had decided to watch the exams on TV...in case Orochimaru tried attacking the village again.

However, the Sand Siblings were brave enough to show up nonetheless.

"Hey there! Where is everybody?" asked the genin.

"They decided to watch the exams on TV...bad things always happen during the Chunin Exams these days..." explained Temari.

"It's true...we got attacked by no less than three psychopaths during our preliminaries..." answered Naruto.

"You think it's going to happen again?" asked Lucy.

"Probably." nodded Gaara.

Naruto sighed. At least he would be ready if they showed up.

"So...whose going to be facing who?" asked Kimimaro.

Curious, he noticed that there was a vs. bracket indicating who was going to battle who.

As it turned out, he was up against...

...Lucy Heartfilia.

"What were the chances of that?" asked the genin.

"I know." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, Naruto and Lucy jumped into the arena.

"So, how long does this fight need to be?" inquired the genin.

"You don't need to beat each other up...you just need to show off your skill." said Temari.

"Oh right...I know how to do that then." answered Naruto.

Incidentally, he wanted to test our the new summoner key he found in his bag. It had the crest of the maiden on it.

"So...are you ready?" asked Lucy.

"Yes, I am." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, he pulled out his Maiden Key.

"Let's give this a shot!" exclaimed the genin.

Sure enough, Virgo appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Greetings, Mistress Lucy Heartfilia. How may I serve you today?" asked Virgo.

Suddenly, she noticed that Lucy wasn't her summoner anymore, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"Mistress Lucy Heartfilia?" inquired the maid.

Curious, she noticed that she happened to be standing there without her summoner key.

"This is confusing..." said Virgo.

Suddenly, Naruto shook her hand.

"Huh?" asked the maiden.

"Greetings! My name's Naruto Uzumaki! Pleased to meet you! I'm your new master!" exclaimed the genin.

"Greetings...Master Naruto Uzumaki. How may I...serve you today?" inquired the maiden curiously.

"Yes, I know. This is a new experience for me too. Interdimensional magic and all that..." answered the genin.

"It's true...I used an interdimensional portal...he inherited my keys and I inherited his fox. It's complicated." said Lucy.

"Alright then..." spoke Virgo.

"So...are you some sort of maid?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes. I can change my appearance however you like." answered the maiden.

"Really? Sweet!" exclaimed the genin.

"You're not going to make her take her clothes off, are you?" inquired Lucy.

"No no no. That's going too far. I just want her to wear a Santa dress, that's all!" exclaimed Naruto.

"A Santa Dress?" asked Lucy.

"Your wish is my command." answered Virgo.

Immediately, she changed into a Santa dress.

"It's like Christmas morning!" cheered the genin.

Sure enough, Virgo was now wearing a Santa's hat and black boots, as well as a red dress trimmed with fur.

"So, how do I look, master?" inquired the maiden.

"You look awesome!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Really? Are you just saying that?" asked Virgo.

"You look like a star! Believe it!" bellowed the genin.

"Alright then." said the maiden, smiling.

"You sure are having fun with Virgo, aren't you, Naruto?" asked Lucy.

"I sure am!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I hope you don't mind if I try summoning something of my own then." answered the kunoichi genin.

Immediately, she summoned Gamabunta in retaliation.

Curious, he noticed that both Naruto and Lucy were in the arena, and was wondering which of them summoned him.

"Er, which one of you summoned me?" asked Gamabunta.

"I did!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Alright then." answered the toad.

"This is a really interesting match..." noted Temari.

"I didn't know that Naruto had keys that he could use to summon things..." spoke Kankuro in surprise.

"That's because he's Lucy's interdimensional partner." answered Gaara.

"Huh?" asked the puppetmaster.

"Is there anything else that you would like me to dress up as, master?" inquired Virgo.

"Can you dress up as a bunny rabbit?" asked Naruto.

Immediately, Virgo snapped her fingers. She was now in a bunny costume.

"Look at you!" exclaimed Naruto.

"This bowtie is making my neck itch..." said the maiden.

"You can take it off. I don't want you to suffer..." answered the genin.

"That's better." answered Virgo as she removed the bow tie.

Personally she was rather glad that her new master was a gentleman even if he was rather lecherous. Imagine all the situations she could end up in if he wasn't.

"What's with Naruto and his new summon?" inquired Gamabunta.

"He's rather excited to have a summon that can change her appearance to whatever he likes." answered Lucy.

"I see." nodded the toad.

"So, do you want me to fight now, master?" asked Virgo.

"Temari said that we didn't need to fight...we just need to show off." answered Naruto.

"Alright then." answered the maiden.

Immediately, Naruto began to summon another spirit.

This time, it was Aries.

"There you go! Why don't you make a friend?" asked the genin.

"Um, hello!" exclaimed Aries.

"Greetings!" answered Virgo.

In retaliation, Lucy began to summon another creature.

In this case, it was a giant frog named Kaeruwara. Unlike Gamabunta, he happened to be blue and had longer legs.

Gamabunta gasped in shock. It was none other than his archrival.

"We meet again, Gamabunta!" bellowed Kaeruwara.

Gamabunta sighed. He really wasn't looking forward to looking to working with him.

"Were you in another makeup session with your boyfriend, Taurus?" asked Naruto.

"Not at the moment." answered Aries.

"Alright then. I'll send him to you now anyway." spoke the genin.

Immediately, he summoned Taurus.

Aries began to squeal.

"Hey, baby!" exclaimed Taurus.

Not wanting to be outmatched, Lucy decided to summon a creature of her own.

This time, she was going to summon a wolf-man to counter Taurus.

In this case, his name was Fenrir.

"Where am I? I want something to eat..." said the wolf-man.

"Welcome to the world of ninja!" exclaimed Lucy.

Unfortunately for Naruto, there was only so many summons that he could bring to the battlefield with him before he passed out.

So, he decided to try a different approach.

"Let's see who can make the bigger Rasengan!" exclaimed the genin.

"Sounds good." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, Naruto and Lucy began to charge up their Rasengans, trying to see who could make theirs bigger.

They were able to stretch out their Rasengans pretty wide, but eventually, they reached their peak.

They decided to dispel the jutsus, and the Rasengans disappeared.

"So, what did the judges think?" inquired Lucy.

The judges both gave Naruto and Lucy a ten out of ten.

"So, are we chunin now?" asked Naruto.

"I would imagine that we are now." answered Lucy.

The judges nodded.

"Yes!" cheered the male chunin.

"Woohoo!" exclaimed the chunin kunoichi.

"Congratulations." said Gaara.

"So, am I up next?" inquired Kimimaro.

"Yes...you're up against Konohamaru." said Naruto.

Immediately, Kimimaro stepped into the arena along with Konohamaru.

However, as it turned out, they weren't going to get to battle each other.

Suddenly, birds began to descend from the sky.

"What the-" said Naruto.

Shortly afterwards, the birds began to attack Naruto and Lucy.

"Agh!" bellowed the chunin.

"Get them off!" screamed Lucy.

Fortunately, Kimimaro was able to slash them away.

"Thank you." said Naruto.

However, more of them were coming.

"Why are the birds so aggressive today?" inquired the chunin.

"Um, Naruto, I think someone is attacking us." said Lucy.

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

Sure enough, there appeared to be someone riding one of the birds.

Curious, Lucy looked at the sky, and gasped in shock.

It was Setsuna!

"This isn't good! We're under attack by another member of our rogues gallery!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Oh no! First Captain Bloodbeard, Takeshi, and Ebemener Scourge teamed up to kill us...and now this!" bellowed Naruto.

"If our rogues gallery are making alliances now, then I don't think she's going to be alone." noted Lucy.

Sure enough, Chihiro was also present, riding another bird.

There were many bandits riding birds as well.

"Well well well. If it isn't for that little brat that got us arrested." said Setsuna.

"Is that her brother?" asked Chihiro.

Naruto and Lucy sweatdropped.

"First the attack at the preliminaries, and now this?" asked Naruto.

"It seems that villains never rest." answered Lucy.

Fortunately, Kimimaro was there to help, as he was before.

Likewise, the Sand Siblings decided to do the same.

"You can't just go around and attack people during their exams!" exclaimed Temari.

"Didn't we do that back when we working with Orochimaru?" inquired Kankuro.

"We've gotten better than that since then." answered the wind user.

"That's true." nodded Gaara, recalling his encounter with Naruto.

Immediately, the bandits began to attack the six, along with Setsuna's bird summons.

"You made a summon contract?" inquired Lucy.

"Yes, I did." nodded Setsuna.

"That isn't good news for us." answered Naruto.

"That's right. It really isn't." acknowledged the kunoichi.

Immediately, Chihiro began to charge up electricity.

"Aah!" exclaimed the genin, quickly jumping out of the way before he got zapped.

Suddenly, another interdimensional portal began to appear. This one was black as ink.

"Huh? What's going on?" asked Setsuna.

For some strange reason, Chihiro got the feeling that this was good news for them and bad news for Naruto and his friends...much to her satisfaction.

Sure enough, she was right.

"Oh no! It's another member of our rogues gallery!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Who is it this time?" asked Kimimaro.

Suddenly, bats began to emerge from the interdimensional portal.

"Wait a minute...I thought I killed him!" bellowed the freshly promoted chunin.

"Good thing my bats were able to find a way to bring me back to life! Ahhahaha." laughed Dracferatu.

"Who are you?" asked Setsuna.

"I'm Dracferatu. The greatest vampire of all time! And I'm here to get revenge on that foul boy that slew me!" bellowed the vampire.

"You know...it's funny. That's more or less what we were here for...to get revenge on who we hate." explained Chihiro.

"You are?" inquired Dracferatu.

Chihiro nodded.

"Do you want to team up? Together he doesn't stand a chance! Ahhahaha." answered the vampire.

Chihiro raised an eyebrow.

"I haven't worked with a vampire before, but...sure." answered Setsuna.

Immediately, she shook his hand.

"Not again!" bellowed Naruto. Once again, his enemies were teaming up against him.

Shortly afterwards, Dracferatu began to bombard Lucy, Naruto, and Kimimaro with bats.

They desperately began to fight them off.

"Good grief! We're being attacked by so many things...I don't believe it." noted Naruto.

"Maybe we should turn to our summons for help." suggested Lucy.

"Yes, of course!" acknowledged the chunin.

"Give it up! You cannot win! My bats are stronger than ever! Ahhahaha." exclaimed Dracferatu.

"I wish I had an upgrade like that." complained Chihiro. Personally she felt that she had been left out of the hoop. Setsuna and her new vampire partner had both received upgrades, and yet she had gotten nothing.

"Your wish is my command!" exclaimed the vampire.

"Huh?" asked Chihiro.

Suddenly, he sank his teeth into her neck.

"Ouch! What was that for? I thought we were on the same side!" inquired the storm kunoichi.

"I gave you an upgrade! Ahhahaha." answered Dracferatu.

Curious, Chihiro noticed that she now felt a lot stronger than before.

"Hmm?" inquired the kunoichi.

She felt the urge to try running up to Naruto and punching him in the face.

Much to her surprise, she was able to run towards the genin very quickly...and punch him so hard that he was sent flying.

"Aah!" exclaimed the chunin.

_Meanwhile..._

"What's the matter, Sakura?" inquired Tsunade.

"All of a sudden I feel a very strange sense of deja vu." said Sakura.

"Well, I just won some money at the lottery...so something bad must be happening." noted the Fifth Hokage.

"What is it this time?" asked the kunoichi.

"I think someone is sabotaging the Chunin Exams..." answered Tsunade.

"Not again!" exclaimed Sakura.

_We now return to the Chunin Exams._

"It appears I have the strength and a speed of a vampire now...sweet!" bellowed Chihiro.

"I take it you're appreciating my gift?" asked Dracferatu.

"Yes...can you do that for Setsuna too?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I can only do that once per day! Ahhahaha." answered the vampire.

"Meh, I don't want this battle to be too easy." spoke Chihiro.

"Man, her punch packs a whallop..." answered Naruto.

"I don't ever recall her being that strong before..." questioned Lucy.

Fortunately, the Sand Siblings were getting ready to fight.

"Er, who should take on who?" questioned the chunin.

"Well, I guess I'll take on Setsuna, since we have history together." answered the kunoichi.

Likewise, Temari decided to assist Lucy in her battle. Her fan would be useful against the birds, obviously.

"I'll take on her apprentice then." spoke Naruto.

Kankuro decided to take Naruto's side. His puppets would hopefully come in handy against Chihiro.

"I guess that leaves me with Dracferatu then." answered Kimimaro.

Likewise, Gaara was left to assist the bone ninja.

"Wait...didn't I battle you a long time ago?" questioned the jinchuriki.

"Times have changed. Enemies have become friends. I actually worked with your partner for that mission yesterday." said Kimimaro.

Gaara shrugged.

Immediately, they got ready to fight.

"Go Naruto! You can do this!" cheered Konohamaru.

"Go, Lucy!" exclaimed Udon.

"You can do this, Kimimaro!" bellowed Moegi.

"Good to see you're supporting us." said Naruto.

_Meanwhile..._

"Is something the matter, Hinata?" inquired Hiashi Hyuga.

"Look what's happening on TV." said Hinata.

Sure enough, Naruto, Lucy, and Kimimaro were in a massive battle against Setsuna, Chihiro, and Dracferatu.

"Oh, my." answered Hinata's father.

"I know, father." nodded Hinata.

"Why does this keep happening?" asked Hiashi.

"It's as if Orochimaru has cursed the Chunin Exams themselves...we get attacked by a maniac every time." said the fire dragonslayer.

"That's true..." answered Hinata's father.

"You think this is somehow his doing?" inquired the kunoichi.

"It may be...it may not." spoke the man.

"Hmm..." thought Hinata.

"Now if you excuse me I'm going to gather the branch house in case they decide to pay us a visit next." answered Hiashi Hyuga.

"Should I come with?" inquired the kunoichi.

"No no no. You stay here and fill me in with the current situation." explained the head of the Hyuga household.

"Yes, of course!" exclaimed the fire ninja.

Immediately, Hiashi Hyuga went to visit the branch household.

However, their current leader wasn't too happy to see him.

"What do you want?" asked the leader of the Hyuga branch members.

Naraku happened to have black hair and was dressed in a ninja uniform, much like many other members of the Hyuga clan. However, he happened to have pale skin, as well as a goatee.

"I need your help, Naraku. Konoha is under attack...and I need you to defend the household in case they attack our clan." said Hiashi Hyuga.

"You want us to help you?" inquired Naraku Hyuga.

Were it not for the seal on his forehead, Naraku likely would have become a missing-nin a long time ago. He happened to hate virtually everything about Hiashi Hyuga. Personally he felt that he should be the leader of the Hyuga Clan.

However, he had one small problem.

"Treat us with respect, Naraku. You do remember the seal you have on your forehead, don't you?" inquired Hiashi.

"Right, of course. How could I have forgotten about that?" asked Naraku.

As much as he hated Hiashi Hyuga, he happened to hate the seal on his forehead even more. How he wished that it would just go away.

"I want you to make sure my daughters and my nephew stay safe." spoke Hinata's father.

"Fine fine fine. Whatever!" exclaimed the man.

Hiashi was starting to wonder if someone else should have the position as head of the Hyuga branch household.

He clearly wasn't enjoying his job.

Immediately, Naraku Hyuga and the branch household members left to go protect Hinata, Hanabi, and Neji.

Hanabi Hyuga sighed. He actually appreciated the assistance of the Hyuga branch household...but he never really had time to show his gratitude.

Hopefully they would at least do their job for the time being. While he did admit that it was rather cruel to strip Hinata of her title as his heiress (as she was pretty weak for a Hyuga ninja), he did care for her well-being.

Sure enough, they were standing right outside his house, as his Byakugan readings would suggest.

"Well, I guess I'm safe now..." said Hiashi Hyuga as he went to bed.

_At the Chunin Exam battlefield..._

Lucy attacked Setsuna with her whip, who quickly sidestepped.

In retaliation, she swung her sword at Lucy.

However, Temari was there to help her, blowing away Setsuna to keep her at a distance.

"That's one mighty fan you've got there." noted the kunoichi.

"Thank you. I've been using it as a weapon for ages." answered Temari.

"I've been using this whip for ages." said Lucy.

"What a coincidence." noted the wind kunoichi.

Unfortunately, Setsuna was rather persistent. She began to summon some birds to attack the duo.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed Lucy. Their pecks hurt.

Fortunately, Temari was able to blow them away.

"Aren't you a tough nut to crack." noted Setsuna.

Perhaps she should summon a bigger bird?

Knowing that birds had natural predators, Lucy began to summon some cats.

Immediately, the cats began to attack the birds, pouncing on top of them when they got too close.

"You can summon cats? Not bad." answered Temari.

"I can summon more than just cats, actually." explained Lucy.

"Hmm?" inquired the wind kunoichi.

"You see...due to the fact that I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage, I don't really have a limit as to what creatures I can summon. I just have to worry about losing too much blood." answered Lucy.

"That's nice. There aren't many ninja that can do that..." spoke Temari.

"Fair enough. I can summon any avian I can want. Including this one." answered Setsuna.

Immediately, she summoned an ostrich to charge towards Lucy and Temari.

"Yikes!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Unfortunately, Temari was having difficulty blowing the ostrich away. He was pretty fast.

Maybe it was time to summon a creature of her own.

"Kamatari! It's your turn!" exclaimed the wind kunoichi, spreading some blood across the fan.

Kamatari immediately appeared in a burst of smoke.

Immediately, he began to slash the ostrich several different times, causing it to disappear.

He then ran straight towards Setsuna, who frantically began to fend him off with her sword.

"You wouldn't happen to be a pirate weasel, would you? You have an eyepatch over your left eye." questioned Setsuna.

"No, I'm not a pirate. I lost my left eye after a rabbit clawed it out..." said Kamatari.

"OK..." answered the wind kunoichi. Why were rabbits so ferocious?

Unfortunately, Setsuna countered with a wind jutsu of her own, which tore up Lucy's clothing.

Oddly enough, she happened to be wearing a blue tube top this time.

"Not again!" exclaimed Lucy. Once again, she had suffered clothing damage.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Kankuro were fighting against Setsuna's apprentice, also known as Chihiro.

However, due to the upgrade that Dracferatu had given her, she wasn't proving to be an easy opponent.

Kankuro tried to have Crow stab Chihiro with its blades, but unfortunately she was proving to be rather quick.

Fortunately, he was able to trap Chihiro inside Black Ant.

"Let me out of here!" bellowed the kunoichi.

"Right then...I'll just use Crow to stab you and-"

Suddenly, Chihiro managed to break free. As it turned out, she had destroyed Black Ant using her electric pulse jutsu.

"I'm free!" cheered the kunoichi.

"I should have known that this wasn't going to be that easy." acknowledged the puppetmaster.

She then followed by punching and kicking Kankuro, leaping over Crow and charging straight towards him beforehand.

Unfortunately for Kankuro, he wasn't cut out for close-ranged combat. He couldn't concentrate on using his puppets if he was being punched in the face and kicked in the shins.

Fortunately for Kankuro, close-ranged combat happened to be Naruto's forte...granted, he could now adapt to long-ranged combat accordingly due to his summons, but it was still his preference.

Immediately, he hit Chihiro with his Rasengan, knocking her down and causing her to collapse.

"Did we get her?" inquired Naruto.

No such luck. Chihiro immediately leapt to her feet and began attacking again, bringing down lightning bolts from the sky.

Though she had been injured by the Rasengan, she was still able to fight very effectively.

Immediately, she began to shoot lightning bolts from her fingertips, zapping Naruto Uzumaki.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed the genin.

Fortunately, Kankuro was able to use Crow to slash Chihiro in her face.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

However, the cut appeared to be slowly regenerating.

"Did I get a vampire's healing factor too?" inquired Chihiro.

Apparently, she did.

Immediately, Chihiro began to charge up electricity in her arm.

"So, you like to play with your Rasengan, huh? Let's see how you like my Chidori!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"You can use the Chidori?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes...I've stolen a few scrolls from Konoha in the past. I only learned it recently, though." said Chihiro.

"I see." answered the chunin.

Immediately, she began to lunge towards Naruto. Fortunately, he was able to avoid it.

Normally, a ninja would be able to see the attack coming and would be able to launch an immediate counterattack.

However, due to Chihiro's now vampire-like speed, this was no longer an easy feat.

Curious, Naruto looked at Kankuro's destroyed Black Ant puppet.

"Is there any way for you to repair it?" inquired the chunin.

"I have a jutsu for repairing my puppets if they get damaged, but I need some time to pull it off." answered Kankuro.

"Alright then." spoke Naruto.

Immediately, Kankuro began to use the jutsu.

Slowly, Black Ant began to put itself back together.

However, Chihiro was now attacking Crow using another Chidori.

This time, she managed to hit the puppet, causing it to collapse on the ground. It had been drastically damaged by the attack.

"Uh-oh..." said Kankuro. Apparently, he was going to repair that particular puppet too.

Meanwhile, Gaara and Kimimaro were facing Dracferatu. He was trying to bombard them with bats, but unfortunately Gaara's tailed beast was protecting him pretty well.

"You always did go out of your way to make sure I didn't get hurt..." noted the teenage boy.

**"That's right, I did!" **exclaimed Shukaku.

Likewise, Kimimaro was doing well against the bats as well.

However, Dracferatu was not finished yet. Immediately, he began to bite into Kimimaro's neck, hoping to transform him into a vampire.

Unfortunately, powerful ninja (and mages) were able to resist the technique.

Dracferatu let out a sigh.

"Well, at least I can still suck your blood out. Ahhahaha." laughed the vampire.

Immediately, he began to drink Gaara's blood...

...only to have sand sprayed in his eyes for his trouble.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed Dracferatu. He had forgotten all about Shukaku's defense mechanism.

This was then followed by Gaara trapping the vampire inside a coffin of sand.

"You think this can hold me? Ahhahaha." laughed Dracferatu.

"Well, it's usually worked before...the exception is fighting alongside me." said Gaara.

Kimimaro rubbed his hand behind his head.

Unfortunately, Dracferatu had the strength to back up his claims. Immediately, he burst his arm through Gaara's sand coffin, followed by one of his legs.

Within a minute, he was free.

"That's one strong vampire." noted Gaara.

**"I'll say!" **exclaimed Shukaku.

In retaliation, Dracferatu began to cast a spell to suck out Gaara's blood.

Sure enough, he began to see it leaving his body.

"That's not good..." said Gaara.

"Ahhahaha. Your blood tastes delightful!" exclaimed Dracferatu.

Unfortunately, Kimimaro was not going to sit by and let his comrade have his blood sucked out.

Immediately, he stabbed Dracferatu with his bone sword.

"Aaaaargghh!" exclaimed the vampire.

Unfortunately, Kimimaro had missed his heart, so he wasn't going to die again. At least not yet.

In retaliation, he began to bite into Kimimaro's neck and proceeded to start sucking his blood out instead.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed the last member of the Kaguya clan. Being bitten by a vampire was very painful.

Fortunately, Gaara was able to assist Kimimaro by grabbing onto Dracferatu with one of his sand arms, removing his fangs from the bone ninja's neck.

"Much obliged." said the Kaguya clan member.

Immediately, he began to sprout bone spikes from his body to make it harder for Dracferatu to suck out his blood.

However, Dracferatu was not one to give up easily.

Casting another spell, Gaara and Kimimaro suddenly found themselves shrouded in darkness.

"Where did the vampire go?" inquired Gaara.

"This isn't good." said Kimimaro.

Immediately, they found themselves being attacked by several bats. Unfortunately, due to their echolocation abilities, being in darkness didn't hinder them much.

In fact, they were essentially in their element.

"Now I get it...he's trying to ambush us now." spoke Gaara.

"We should probably go on the defensive." acknowledged Kimimaro.

Fortunately, Gaara's sand was still doing its job.

_Meanwhile..._

Natsu decided to visit Hinata, as she happened to be one of his friends.

However, he was immediately greeted by several different Hyuga clan branch members, who jumped out of nowhere.

"State your business!" exclaimed Naraku.

"I'm here to see Hinata." said Natsu.

"Oh really? Are you here to kill her? Kidnap her? Cut out her eyes? Touch her b-"

"No! I'm not here to do any of those things!" exclaimed the fire dragonslayer.

"Then why are you here?" asked Naraku.

"I just want to pay Hinata a visit..." said Natsu.

"How do we know if we can trust you?" inquired the Hyuga clan member.

Natsu immediately showed them his Byakugan.

"Oh...carry on then." spoke Naraku.

He entered the house, where Hinata was rather surprised to see him.

"Hey there, Natsu! What a surprise." said the kunoichi.

"Hey there, Hinata...you sure have a lot of bodyguards." noted Natsu.

"That's because Konoha's currently having a crisis." said Hinata.

"I see." answered the fire mage.

Curious, he noticed that Hinata was watching something on TV.

"What's going on?" inquired Natsu.

"The Chunin Exams are getting attacked again." answered the kunoichi.

"The Chunin Exams? Isn't Lucy participating in them?" asked Natsu.

"I'm afraid so! She's fighting against a wind ninja along with Temari as we speak!" exclaimed the female dragonslayer.

"That's terrible! Is there anything we can do?" inquired the fire mage.

"Probably not. Tsunade's set up barricades all across Konoha to prevent the criminals from escaping. I don't think you're going to be able to get through." noted Hinata.

"Darn it! I hope that she's going to be OK..." answered Natsu.

"I have a feeling she will. I'm glad you came to visit...I was actually starting to get lonely." said the kunoichi.

"You are?" inquired the fire mage.

"They moved Neji to the branch house because his father was formerly their leader...my sister Hanabi Hyuga is taking a nap..." said Hinata.

"Sorry to hear that." answered Natsu.

"You know, it's funny...seeing ninja fight on television makes me want to duel another ninja myself." answered the kunoichi.

"You may have...inherited my love for fighting." said the male fire dragonslayer.

"Hmm?" inquired Hinata. Now that she thought of it, she thought that she had been a pacifist before.

"Believe me, I'd tried to duel almost every mage in Fairy Tail..." spoke Natsu.

"I see...I may have inherited that from you then." answered the kunoichi.

"Do you want to duel each other? There doesn't seem to be anyone else at the moment." said the fire mage.

"Everyone else is at their home...so sure." nodded Hinata.

"Yes!" cheered Natsu.

Immediately, they went outside where there was a sparring arena.

"So, are you ready?" inquired the fire mage.

Hinata nodded, bowing down to Natsu.

"Why are you bowing down to me?" inquired the fire mage.

"I felt that I should respect my opponent." said Hinata.

"Alright then." answered Natsu, bowing down to Hinata.

Immediately, the two of them began to use their Gentle Fists on one another.

_Meanwhile..._

After knocking Kamitari into the arena pit a few feet away from her using a gust of wind, Setsuna began to summon some penguins to attack Lucy and Temari.

Unfortunately, they waddled towards them very slowly.

Letting out a sigh, she dismissed them.

She needed to summon a more threatening bird.

"Let me think..." said the woman.

Suddenly, Lucy began to attack her with a whip, burning her face.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed Setsuna.

"Sorry, can't let you summon any more birds." answered the kunoichi.

Setsuna whistled, and several bandits began to back her up.

"Uh-oh..." said Lucy.

Immediately, the bandits began to run towards Lucy and Temari.

Fortunately, Temari was able to blow them away.

"I've got to do something about that fan..." noted Setsuna.

However, some of them were attacking Temari from a distance with a bow and arrow.

"Agh!" exclaimed the kunoichi. One of them had hit her in the shoulder.

Fortunately, Lucy was there to help.

Immediately, she whistled for Gamabunta...who was still in the arena.

He hopped out of the arena and began to pounce on top of the bandits.

"Looks like we might be able to turn the tide now..." noted Lucy.

Unfortunately, Setsuna began to slash and stab Gamabunta with her katana. She was very quick with it.

In retaliation, Gamabunta began to spew out oil.

"Yuck!" exclaimed Setsuna, wiping herself off.

This gave Lucy the opportunity to hit Setsuna with her Rasengan.

"Aaugh!" bellowed the wind kunoichi.

Immediately, she fell on the floor.

"So, is the battle over?" inquired Lucy.

Setsuna helped herself to her feet.

"No, it's not." answered Temari.

In retaliation, Setsuna began to summon her personal mount...a roc.

"Whoa! That's one giant bird!" exclaimed Lucy.

"We might be in trouble." said Temari.

Immediately, the roc let out gusts of wind, knocking Temari and Lucy backwards.

"Aah!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"This is one tough bird." noted Temari.

"Like her? This is Haruka...I had to admit, I was very lucky to be able to make a contract with her." noted Setsuna.

"Yes, you were." agreed Lucy.

Immediately, Haruka began to attack Gamabunta, hoping to have some frog legs tonight.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed the giant toad.

Unfortunately, rocs like Haraku happened to enjoy feasting on giant animals like Gamabunta.

On the plus side, Kamatari had emerged from the arena to help Temari fight again.

"There you are!" exclaimed Temari.

"Sorry about that." apologized Kamatari. Setsuna was tough.

Fortunately for Kankuro, he had managed to repair Black Ant. However, he was going to have to take care not to have it destroyed again.

So, rather than to try imprison Chihiro again (and watch her blow up Black Ant once more), he decided to simply have Black Ant attack her with its sawblades.

However, she was proving to be very adept at dodging them.

Immediately, he began to repair Crow as well. Though it hadn't been destroyed like Black Ant had, it needed to be repaired nonetheless.

However, Chihiro was getting ready to launch some more lightning bolts.

Fortunately, Naruto was about to call for help.

"Virgo! Can you help me, please?" inquired the chunin.

"Yes, master!" exclaimed Virgo.

Immediately, she stepped out of the arena to where Naruto and Kankuro were.

"I need you to help me take down Chihiro...she's trying to fry us with lightning bolts." said the genin.

Virgo nodded.

Immediately, she began to attack Chihiro.

"Aah!" exclaimed the apprentice.

Virgo was much tougher than her innocent appearance would suggest.

Immediately, she began to dig underground, leaving Chihiro to wonder where she had gone.

Her question was answered when she suddenly found herself being kicked from behind.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed Setsuna's apprentice.

"Thanks for help." said Naruto.

"You're welcome, master." answered Virgo.

Suddenly, Chihiro kicked Virgo and sent her flying, causing her to fall on top of Naruto.

Immediately, he began to blush.

"I'm sorry master. I failed you. Punish me..." murmured Virgo.

"I can't punish you! You're my Celestial Spirit!" exclaimed Naruto.

"But I failed you..." said the maiden.

Naruto pinched Virgo on the cheeks.

"Happy?" asked the chunin.

Virgo nodded.

Naruto let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Is your Celestial Spirit kinky?" asked Kankuro.

"I hope not." answered the chunin.

"Maybe just a little..." said Virgo.

Naruto sighed.

Once again, Chihiro began to charge up for an electric pulse.

Unfortunately, she was now able to charge up faster than before, so they had less time to react.

Naruto tossed a kunai at Chihiro, interrupting her concentration.

"Darn it!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

This was then followed by Kankuro bombarding Chihiro with a poison gas.

Immediately, she began to hold her breath.

"Is that gas explosive?" inquired Naruto.

"I believe so, why?" asked Kankuro.

Naruto tossed a paper bomb into the gas cloud.

Immediately, the gas cloud exploded, sending Chihiro flying.

However, she still wasn't down for the count yet.

"I will kill you!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Can't we talk this out?" inquired Naruto.

Immediately, Chihiro prepared for another Chidori.

"Uh-oh..." said Kankuro.

Of course, Kimimaro and Gaara were still fighting Dracferatu, trying to find a way out of this mess.

"There's got to be a way out of this darkness somewhere..." said the Kaguya clan member.

"Hmm..." thought the sand ninja.

Curious, he began to look for a way out.

Sure enough, there appeared to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

He hoped that he wasn't dying.

Fortunately, he was not, and he was able to find a way out of the darkness along with Kimimaro.

Gaara let out a sigh of relief. He was actually starting to get scared for a moment there.

"What the-how did you break free from my spell?!" exclaimed Dracferatu.

"We found a light at the end of the tunnel..." said Gaara.

Dracferatu sighed. Apparently that spell didn't last forever.

"I guess I'm going to have to try a different tactic..." said the vampire.

Immediately, his bats began to screech.

"Urgh!" bellowed Gaara.

"My ears..." murmured Kimimaro.

Already, their ears were starting to bleed.

The bats must have been screeching pretty loud, because glass began breaking in the distance.

"Urgh..." said the sand ninja.

Of course, Konohamaru was still cheering them on.

"Come on! You can be vampireslayers! I just know it!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Unfortunately, Dracferatu noticed what Konohamaru and his friends were doing, and decided that he wanted it to end.

"What should I do with them? I know! Ahhahaha." said the vampire.

Immediately, he reached into his cloak and pulled out the leader of his bat flock and his personal messenger, Vladimir.

Oddly enough, he happened to be much larger than the rest of his bats. Maybe he had drunk so much blood he had gotten fat?

Then again, that didn't explain why he could still fly as fast as ever.

Immediately, he began to wake up.

"What is it, master?" inquired Vladimir.

"I need you to deal with those three kids over there! They insist on cheering our enemies on! Ahhahaha." answered Dracferatu.

"Yes, master!" exclaimed the vampire bat.

"Uh-oh..." thought Konohamaru.

Immediately, Vladimir began to attack Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi, trying to suck out their blood.

"Run!" bellowed the genin.

Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi began to run away from the killer bat. They wanted their blood to stay in their bodies where it belonged.

"There goes our supporters..." said Gaara.

"Pity." nodded Kimimaro.

Unfortunately, losing their supporters made them feel a bit more...discouraged.

"I'm sad to see them gone." spoke the sand ninja.

"Me too." agreed Kimimaro.

"Without your supporters, you're powerless against me! Ahhahaha!" laughed Dracferatu.

"Well, that didn't exactly help us." noted Gaara.

Kimimaro shook his head.

"Now then, it's time for me to go into hiding while my lackies take care of you!" exclaimed the vampire.

Immediately, he transformed into a vampire and began to shuffle among his bat brethren.

"Oh man..." murmured Gaara.

"Where did he go?" inquired Kimimaro.

_Meanwhile..._

Hinata and Natsu both practiced their Gentle Fist techniques on each other, neither of them gaining a clear advantage.

"Not bad! You seem to be a fast learner." answered the kunoichi.

"Thanks." answered Natsu.

"Then again I appear to be a fast learner myself considering how fast I was able to learn what your foster father taught me." noted Hinata.

"Really?" inquired the male dragonslayer.

"Well, he admittedly didn't teach me much." answered the female dragonslayer.

"I see." nodded Natsu.

Immediately, the duo continued to spar with one another.

Once again, neither of them were able to get an advantage over the other.

"Hmm...it appears that we're both roughly equal in strength." noted Natsu.

"It looks that way." answered Hinata.

"Isn't that nice." acknowledged the fire mage.

"Maybe we should do this again in the future." noted the kunoichi as they continued to duel.

Eventually, they decided to see who was stronger...in physical strength.

"So...dragonslayers have superhuman strength, do they not? I believe Igneel explained that to me..." noted Hinata.

"Yes, they do. Some of them, anyway." answered Natsu.

Curious, they decided to see if they could lift each other off their feet...which they did somewhat easily.

As they did so, they both began to blush.

"Well, I sure have gotten strong..." answered Hinata.

"You sure have." nodded Natsu.

Suddenly, Hinata's bodyguards began to burst into the room.

"Huh?" asked Hinata. What was going on?

Immediately, they began to tackle Natsu to the ground like a team of football players.

"Aaugh!" bellowed the fire mage. They were surprisingly strong...and agile.

"Natsu!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Well, what have we here? You thought you could try to kill Hiashi's daughter and get away with it, didn't you?" inquired Naraku.

"What? I wasn't here to kill Hinata! I would never do that!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Lie all you want. I don't care." answered the leader of the Hyuga branch house.

Immediately, he pulled out a kunai.

"Right then...I don't think you'll be able to kill Hinata if you're dead...so..." said Naraku.

"Stop!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Huh?" asked the leader of Hinata's bodyguards.

"He wasn't going to kill me!" bellowed the kunoichi.

"Oh really?" inquired Naraku.

"We were just duelling, that's all. Now let him go!" exclaimed Hinata.

Reluctantly, Naraku instructed the bodyguards to release Natsu.

They then went back to their posts.

"Thanks for saving me...if it weren't for you I would have been a goner." answered the male dragonslayer.

"You're welcome, Natsu...I actually saved Naruto after we swapped places and I ended up in Fairy Tail...' said the female dragonslayer.

"Did you?" asked Natsu.

"I know...I feel like a whole different person." answered Hinata.

"Well, so do I." nodded the male dragonslayer.

"Being interdimensional partners really has changed us." noted the kunoichi.

"It's true, it has." agreed Natsu.

"Well, that was a good sparring session, wouldn't you say?" inquired Hinata.

"Mm-hmm." answered the fire mage.

"I'm not sure if my father will be happy that I had a guest over though..." noted the kunoichi.

"You're right...we might need to talk things over with him." nodded Natsu.

"Yeah..." answered Hinata.

"Is he usually polite to guests?" asked the male dragonslayer.

"Usually." nodded the female dragonslayer.

Natsu let out a sigh of relief.

"I guess I'll see you again when the Chunin Exams are over..." answered the fire mage.

"See you later!" exclaimed Hinata.

Immediately, Natsu left Hinata's house, Naraku giving him the evil eye as he left.

"He must really not like it when people not part of his clan pay Hiashi and his family a visit." noted the fire mage.

Sure enough, Naraku was grumbling about him being a commoner.

"Hopefully he'll loosen up some day." thought Natsu.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, how is your date going?" inquired Erza as she gave Gray and Juvia some food.

"Awesome!" exclaimed the water mage.

"That's nice." answered the knight.

Oddly enough, Gray was also enjoying his date with Juvia somewhat.

"So, do your lovebirds want anything else? Or do you want your bill?" inquired Erza.

"We'd like some dessert." spoke Juvia.

"Alright then!" exclaimed Erza.

Sure enough, she came back a few minutes later with an enormous sundae.

"That's one big sundae..." noted Gray.

"That's why we're going to share it!" exclaimed Juvia.

"We are?" asked the ice mage.

"Of course we are!" bellowed the water mage.

"Um, sure..." answered Gray.

Immediately, the duo began to eat the sundae.

"Delicious!" cheered Juvia.

"Er, yeah." nodded the ice mage.

"Is everything OK?" asked Erza.

"Yeah." answered Gray.

"Alright then. You ready for your bill?" inquired the knight.

"Sure, just let us finish this sundae." said Juvia.

Shrugging, Erza decided to leave them both to their own devices.

Sure enough, they managed to finish their sundae a few minutes later.

Erza then came back with the bill.

"Good thing I've been doing a lot of missions lately." noted the ice mage.

Immediately, he handed Erza some jewels as a tip.

"Thank you." said the knight.

After paying the bill, Gray and Juvia left the restaurant.

"That date was so awesome!" exclaimed Juvia.

Immediately, she gave Gray a hug.

"Yes, it was." answered the ice mage.

"Do you want to go on another date?" inquired the water mage.

"Sure, maybe later." said Gray.

Immediately, Juvia decided to head back to the Fairy Tail guild.

"Well, that was a rather nice date..." noted the ice mage.

Nonetheless, he wondered if he was simply going on a date simply because Juvia kept stalking him.

Then again, she had stopped doing that recently.

"Oh yeah..." answered Gray.

Hopefully now that Juvia's obsession with him was now healthy, she wasn't going to go crazy.

"Wouldn't want her to go psycho now." noted the ice mage.

He heard that when some girls were denied love for too long, they went completely insane.

"I wouldn't want that to happen to Juvia." acknowledged Gray.

Erza left the restaurant a few minutes later.

"Hey there, Erza! Are you done with your shift?" inquired the ice mage.

"Yes, I am." answered the knight.

"Alright then. So, you're heading back to Fairy Tail now?" asked Gray.

Erza nodded.

"I'll see you there!" exclaimed the ice mage.

Immediately, he began to head home along with Erza.

"Well, it's been a long night..." noted Gray.

Immediately, he decided to go to bed...on the couch.

"Zzz..." murmured the ice mage.

_Naruto and Lucy can't seem to catch a break...this time they're being attacked by Setsuna, Chihiro, and Dracferatu!_

_How is their battles with them going to turn out this time?_

_And will Gray really go on another date with Juvia?_

_I hope you're excited for the next chapter!_


	34. Chapter 34: Ninja Promotions

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, we're going to continue where we left off...and Kimimaro and Team Edisu are going to get promoted! Yay!_

_Oddly enough the last chapter happened to be called Ladies' Night when it took place during the day...do you think it was still fitting?_

**Chapter 34: Ninja Promotions**

"It looks like I'm stuck in Konoha..." said Shikamaru. Apparently, when Tsunade had realized that criminals were escaping from her slave camp, she decided that she needed to barricade Konoha to make sure nobody came in or out.

So, he was stuck in his house for the time being. It was for his own protection, they said.

No matter. He hardly left his house anyway. He'd rather go to sleep than do something more active.

Well, that and read a book. He was Levy's interdimensional partner now after all.

However, he wondered how long the barricade was going to be. Tsunade never mentioned how long this was going to take.

He didn't want to be stranded in his house for too long. He wanted to go visit his friends.

Speaking of which, where were they? He wasn't exactly sure where Ino and Choji were when the barricade hit.

He hoped that they were somewhere nice.

However, he was starting to get worried about Lucy. According to the TV, she was fighting against the wanted criminals.

Of course, he was worried about Naruto and Kimimaro too. Were they going to be OK?

Curious, he noticed that the Sand Siblings were trying to protect them. Would they be enough? Then again, Temari did save him from that female psychopath by the name of Tayuya.

"Sheesh...this invasion is such a drag." noted Shikamaru.

Now that he thought of it...didn't he get promoted to chunin during Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha?

"What a coincidence..." acknowledged the shadow ninja.

Personally he hoped that the criminals would be caught soon. Why did Naruto and his friends have so many crazy foes these days?

According to the TV, one of them even happened to be a vampire.

"I thought those only existed in myths..." thought Shikamaru.

Then again, judging from the interdimensional portal he used as well as his magical spells, he likely wasn't from the world of ninja.

Hopefully Naruto, Lucy, and Kimimaro had some holy water...or some garlic...or some silver...or didn't invite him into their houses.

"Vampires have a surprising amount of weaknesses." noted Shikamaru.

Oddly enough, sunlight didn't appear to be hurting him...it was just making him sparkle.

"How odd." thought the shadow ninja.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the sun wasn't going to burn him up. That would make things too easy, now wouldn't it?

Suddenly, he noticed that Konohamaru and his friends were being attacked by a rather large vampire bat. Apparently, the vampire had summoned it to attack them.

"I hope they're OK...they're only genin." noted Shikamaru.

Then again, Naruto had been a genin only until recently. What exactly took him so long to become a chunin?

"Well, admittedly he did decide to go train with Jiraiya for about two and a half years or so..." noted Shikamaru.

Oddly enough...now that he thought of it...he and Lucy happened to be roughly around the same age. Both of them were about sixteen years old, he believed.

"What were the odds?" inquired Shikamaru.

Then again, they were interdimensional partners.

"Hmm..." thought the ninja. Naruto and Lucy already had their similarities before they shared the same interdimensional portal.

"It's really weird." spoke Shikamaru.

Now that he thought of it...why did he keep talking to himself?

He must be getting pretty lonely.

"I must miss Choji and Ino..." noted the shadow ninja.

It wasn't much of a surprise. They seemed to do everything together these days...at least until Lucy came along and he started playing Shogi with her.

Hopefully she was going to make it out of this alive.

"I wonder where Choji and Ino are? Hopefully they're somewhere more populated than this..." said Shikamaru.

_Meanwhile..._

"Hmm, I think Gamabunta might need some help." noted Lucy.

Unfortunately, Gamabunta was being lifted into the sky by Haruka.

"Let me down!" bellowed the toad.

Apparently, Haruka was trying to make Gamabunta fall from a great height in order to wound him.

"What do you suggest?" inquired Temari.

Immediately, Lucy whistled for his archrival.

"What do you want?" asked Kaeruwara.

"I need you to help Gamabunta. He's getting pulverized out here!" exclaimed Lucy.

"But it's hilarious!" bellowed the giant frog.

"You don't want your summoner to get killed, do you?" inquired Temari.

"I'm conflicted." said Kaeruwara.

Suddenly, Gamabunta landed on top of him.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed Gamabunta.

"Alright, you have me convinced." answered the giant frog.

Immediately, he used his tongue to grab onto Haraku, locking her in place.

"Alright! Now I can hit with my Rasengan!" bellowed Lucy.

Lucy did so, causing Haraku to screech. Setsuna immediately began to scowl.

"Looks like I wounded her." noted the kunoichi.

Unfortunately, Haruka began to fly towards her in retaliation.

"Uh-oh." said Lucy.

Immediately, she leapt out of the way.

However, Haruka was still continuing to fly towards her.

"That's one persistent bird of prey." noted Lucy.

Meanwhile, Temari was dealing with Setsuna, and was once again attacking her with Kamatari.

This time, he was doing his job right, and Setsuna was covered with several cuts and scrapes.

"Aren't you a tough ninja..." answered the kunochi.

"Our village didn't train us to be amateurs." spoke Temari.

"That explains how you got in the military." noted Setsuna as she began to whip up a whirlwind.

In retaliation, Temari began to counter with her fan.

This time, she stretched out it all the way.

The two attacks cancelled each other out...but Setsuna managed to slash Temari shortly afterwards.

"Agh!" bellowed the kunoichi.

Fortunately, she wasn't greviously injured. However, it was rather painful nonetheless.

"You think you can defeat the bandit queen?" inquired Setsuna.

"The bandit queen?" asked Temari.

"Why do you think I have all these bandits backing me up?" asked the kunoichi.

"That explains a lot." answered the kunoichi. Personally she was surprised how many bandits there were back home. They sure seemed to thrive in the desert.

However, at this point, the bandit's morale was decreasing...in no small part due to the fact that one of their opponents was attacking with two giant amphibians.

"Um, are you sure that we're cut out for this?" asked one of the bandits.

As it turned out, they were beginning to fall back.

"Of course you are!" exclaimed Setsuna.

"But they've got two giant frogs!" bellowed another bandit.

"Actually, one of us is a giant frog. I happen to be a giant toad." explained Gamabunta.

"What's the difference?" inquired the aforementioned bandit.

"Well, frogs sweat mucus and have to live near water. I don't need to sweat mucus and I don't need to live near water." said Gamabunta.

The bandit began to shiver with revulsion upon realizing that frogs sweat mucus.

"I know. I'm as disgusted as you are." agreed the giant toad.

Kaeruwara began to glare at Gamabunta.

Immediately, the former began to shoot a destructive beam of water at the bandits, sending them flying.

Some of the bandits tried to stab Kaeruwara and Gamabunta with some rather sharp knives...but unfortunately they weren't doing a thing against their flesh.

They subsquently began to retreat, much to Setsuna's frustration.

"My bandit crew are as incompetent as ever!" bellowed the bandit queen.

"Sorry to hear that." answered Temari.

Suddenly, Kerai (otherwise known as the bandit chief, and the former leader of the bandits) made his appearance.

"Ah! There you are! I was wondering where you had hopped off too...I didn't see you with any of my birds." said Setsuna.

"One of the birds thought it would be a better idea to go and eat some fish rather than take me to our destination..." answered the bandit chief.

"I see...so, are you ready to help?" inquired the kunoichi.

Kerai nodded.

Immediately, he began to create some wind clones of himself.

"Good to see you've mastered that jutsu." said Setsuna.

"Things are about get more difficult..." noted Temari.

Then again, she did like a challenge.

Kankuro continued trying to attack Chihiro with her puppets. This time, he managed to stab her in the leg.

"Aaugh!" bellowed the kunoichi.

However, her new healing abilities were kicking in once again.

"This is a war of attrition..." thought Kankuro.

He in fact had been in a few of those in the past. Why did wars have to take so long?

Virgo tried to attack Chihiro, but this time she was ready. She jumped away as soon as she started digging.

This time, Naruto decided to ask Aries for help.

"C'mon! You can do it!" bellowed the genin.

Aries faintly began to smile upon hearing that.

Immediately, she began to attack Chihiro with a Wool Bomb.

"Aah!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Nice shot!" bellowed Naruto.

Unfortunately, Chihiro punched away Aries shortly afterwards, sending her on top of Kankuro.

"Um, hi?" asked the puppetmaster.

Curious, Aries noticed Kankuro's creepy-looking puppets, and began to feel very nervous.

Naruto tried to comfort her.

"Take a deep breath...the puppets aren't going to hurt you...they're on your side..." said the chunin.

"Y-yes! Of c-course!" bellowed Aries.

However, Chihiro was charging up for another electric pulse.

"But Chihiro certainly isn't." answered Naruto.

"Huh?" inquired the celestial spirit.

Immediately, Chihiro hit Aries and Naruto with an electric pulse.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed the duo.

"Are you two OK?" inquired Kankuro.

"We're kind of messed up..." answered Naruto.

Aries was helping trouble getting to her feet.

Likewise, Naruto appeared to be rather dizzy.

"This isn't good." noted Kankuro.

"Darn right!" exclaimed Chihiro.

Fortunately, Kankuro's puppets were now keeping her on the defensive.

"I don't think we can take another shot like that..." acknowledged the chunin.

"Agreed. You sure we can win?" inquired Aries.

"The fates of our friends are on the line here...so yes." answered Naruto.

Once again, she began to take a deep breath.

Chihiro prepared another Chidori, but this time Kankuro was ready and countered with Salamander, much to her frustration.

"Oh c'mon! I can't keep using that jutsu all day!" bellowed the kunoichi.

"Ah yes...I believe Sasuke had a limit to how many times he could use that jutsu." noted Naruto.

Now that he thought of it, he wondered how many Rasengan he should be tossing at his foes.

Wouldn't want to overexert himself now, like he had done back when the Sound Four were chasing him.

"Where is Dracferatu?" asked Gaara, hurling sand at the vampire bats.

"I have no idea..." answered Kimimaro.

Personally, he began to wonder if he should try looking for a bat that looked different from everyone else.

Surely the real Dracferatu would look different from the other bats, right?

However, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Suddenly, he noticed that one of the vampire bats happened to look bigger than the rest.

Immediately, he tried focusing fire on it.

Sure enough, this was the real one, and Dracferatu turned back to normal.

"Agh! How did you know it was me?" inquired the vampire.

"You were bigger than the other bats..." answered Kimimaro.

Dracferatu sighed. He really needed to do something like that.

For now, he needed to try something different.

Immediately, he began to transform into a wolf.

"Good thing I can transform into more than just a bat. Ahhahahaha." spoke Dracferatu.

This was then followed by him biting Gaara in the leg. Unfortunately, Shukaku's sand couldn't protect him this time.

"Aargh!" exclaimed Gaara. Dracferatu really had sharp fangs in his wolf form.

However, Kimimaro wasn't going to allow him to suck the blood out of Gaara. Once again, it was time for him to be a hero.

This time, he began to summon some velociraptors to attack Dracferatu.

Ironically, they attacked him by biting, causing him to revert back to his normal form.

Gaara then hit the vampire with a sand tsunami.

"Right...hopefully he won't be able to escape from all that sand..." noted the sand ninja.

Unfortunately, he was slowly breaking free.

"Man, he's strong..." thought the sand ninja.

**"Typical for a vampire." **noted Shukaku.

Eventually, he broke free. However, he appeared to be exhausted.

"I could really use a pick-me-up right about now...ahhahaha." said the vampire.

Immediately, he began to drink blood from the velociraptors to replenish his strength.

Kimimaro quickly dismissed them.

"You're a poor sport!" bellowed Dracferatu.

"My teammate Tayuya did something like this all the time whenever her summons were hindering her..." answered Kimimaro.

Immediately, he began to cast another spell to put the duo to sleep.

Unfortunately for the Kimimaro, Dracferatu succeeded. Fortunately for Gaara, the spell didn't affect him.

"Why didn't you fall asleep?" inquired the vampire.

"Can't sleep. Tailed beast will eat me." answered Gaara. Apparently, being the jinchuriki of Shukaku allowed him to resist knockout gas and the like.

**"Darn right!" **exclaimed Shukaku.

"I see..." spoke the vampire.

Personally, he wondered what the blood of a tailed beast would taste like.

"No matter. That's still one down, one to go! Ahhahaha." exclaimed Dracferatu.

"That laugh is getting on my nerves..." thought Gaara.

Immediately, he began to try to wake Kimimaro up.

He hoped that he wasn't a heavy sleeper.

Meanwhile, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi were being chased by Dracferatu's favorite vampire bat, Vladimir.

"I vant to suck your blood! Give it to me!" exclaimed Vladimir.

"No!" bellowed Konohamaru.

Unfortunately, Vladimir proved to be rather agile.

"We can't keep running away from him like this!" bellowed Moegi.

"He's going to catch us!" exclaimed Udon.

Sure enough, Vladimir was slowly catching up to them.

Immediately, he let out a screech, causing Team Ebisu to begin to cover their ears.

Unfortunately, Vladimir could use this to stun his prey, allowing him to sink his teeth into their necks.

"Vhich one should I pick first? I can hardly vait!" exclaimed Vladimir.

For some strange reason, Vladimir always replaced his Vs with Ws as of late. Maybe because his owner happened to be a vampire? Then again, he actually didn't speak that way himself.

He decided that he wanted to target Udon first.

Immediately, he sank his teeth into Udon's neck.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed Udon.

Fortunately, his teammates were there to rescue him.

"Leave him alone!" bellowed Moegi.

Immediately, she hit Vladimir on the head with a frying pan.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed the vampire bat.

Apparently, the trio were a bit stronger than he thought.

Then again, Konohamaru did happen to be the grandson of the Third Hokage.

Immediately, he decided to try sucking out Moegi's blood instead...

...only to have a paper bomb attached to his face by Udon for his trouble.

The paper bomb exploded, causing Vladimir to collapse on the floor.

Knowing that he could only suck their blood if he got too close to them, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi decided to leap away from the vampire while he was stunned.

However, he was a very persistent predator.

"I vill suck your blood!" bellowed Vladimir.

Once again, he began flying towards them.

"How do we keep him away?" inquired Moegi.

Shrugging, Konohamaru decided to do what he thought would work best.

In this case, it was to toss kunai at Vladimir.

Frantically, he began trying to avoid them.

"Thank goodness I have plenty to spare..." noted the genin.

However, he realized that he was going to run out eventually, and that therefore he wasn't going to be able to keep tossing them forever. Just how was he going to defend himself then?

He might be in serious trouble here.

"I hope Naruto and his friends finish their battles soon..." noted the genin.

He wasn't sure if he and his friends could take on a ferocious vampire bat alone.

Immediately, Vladimir prepared for another assault on their necks.

"This time I vill get your blood! I mean it!" bellowed the vampire bat.

"Incoming!" bellowed Konohamaru.

Life always did seem so much easier for him during his time on genin...then again, his grandfather did end up dying in his youth thanks to Orochimaru.

One of these days he wanted to avenge his death...could he become strong enough?

_Meanwhile..._

Ino and Choji tried to leave the Yakiniku BBQ, only to be met with an unfortunate discovery.

"What the heck?" inquired Choji.

Unfortunately, it appeared that they were stuck at the restaurant at the moment. The jonin of Konoha had set up a barricade to prevent the criminals from escaping, and in the process had trapped Choji and Ino.

It looked like they weren't going to be able to leave.

"Looks like we're stuck here." noted Ino.

"Yeah, we are..." answered Choji. Who would have thought they were going to end up being stranded?

Curious, they noticed that nobody else appeared to be at the restaurant at the moment. It had been completely deserted.

"Where did they all go?" inquired Ino.

"We must have been here longer than we thought." noted the Akimichi clan member.

"Yeah...how long were we here, anyway?" agreed the Yamanaka clan member.

"About six hours, I think...why do you ask?" asked Choji.

"Sheesh." answered Ino.

Already, they were starting to get bored.

"What's a girl to do?" inquired Ino.

"What's a boy to do?" agreed Choji.

Immediately, they began to look for a way to pass the time.

Unfortunately, it appeared that all the dishes had already been washed.

"I guess we won't be using the dishwasher..." noted Ino.

"Yeah..." agreed Choji.

Likewise, the floors had already been mopped.

"Darn it! I just found the mop too!" exclaimed Ino.

"Where was it?" inquired Choji.

"In the janitor's closet." answered the kunoichi.

"Oh, right...of course." nodded the human wrecking ball.

As they also discovered, the tables had already been done.

"They're really doing their jobs today, aren't they?" inquired Choji.

"Yes, they are." answered Ino.

Curious, they wondered if they should try paying their bill.

Unfortunately, it only took them a few minutes, and they found themselves without anything to do again.

"Well, Choji, it looks like we have nothing to do..." answered Ino.

"That's right, Ino...all we have now..." said Choji.

"...is each other." they said in unison.

Immediately, they began to make out...as they did not have anything better to do.

Besides, they loved doing that.

"You're such a good kisser, Choji!" exclaimed Ino.

"And you're quite the hugger!" bellowed Choji.

Personally they wondered why they hadn't hooked up earlier.

Granted, Ino had thought that Sai was rather cute...but his sense of humor was rather vulgar, to say the very least.

Personally she liked Choji's sense of humor better.

Likewise, Choji liked hanging out with Ino...because she was secretly a bigger eater than he was.

The food just didn't have much of an impact on her body. Apparently, her clan would remain forever slender.

And since the restaurant had been barricaded, nobody was going to barge in while they were making out...

...right?

_Meanwhile at the Chunin Exams..._

Temari was running out of options. The more bandits she blew away, the faster they ran towards her.

Likewise, Lucy was having a time dealing with Kaeri and his clones. Gamabunta and Kaeruwara were holding down Haruka the best that they could, but she was one tough bird.

"You thought you could defeat the bandit queen?! Think again!" bellowed Setsuna.

Immediately, she blew away Gamabunta and Kaeruwara away from Haruka, allowing her to break free and start attacking Lucy and Temari again.

"I already managed to defeat you once before." pointed out Lucy.

**"What makes her sure we can't do it again?" **inquired Kurama.

"Oh yeah? Well, that was a one-time fluke! It's not going to happen again! Don't try!" exclaimed Setsuna.

Suddenly, she remembered that she still had a wolf-man that she could use.

"Oh, right. How did I forget about him?

Immediately, she instructed the wolf-man to restrain Setsuna so that she couldn't hit them with another wind jutsu...which she did.

"Let me go!" exclaimed Setsuna, trying to break free from his iron grip.

"You look tasty..." murmured the wolf-man.

Setsuna began to shudder.

Getting an idea, Kamatari then swiped the sword from the wind kunoichi.

"Hey! That's my sword!" exclaimed the bandit queen.

He then handed it to Temari.

"Thanks...but I don't know how to use a sword." noted the kunoichi.

"You don't? Why don't you do me a favor and hand it back to me!" exclaimed Setsuna.

This gave Temari an idea.

"Alright then...I'll toss it back to you..." said the kunoichi.

Setsuna smiled.

"Literally." spoke Temari.

"What the-" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Suddenly, Temari tossed the sword at Setsuna as an improvised kunai, puncturing one of her arteries.

"Aargh!" exclaimed Setsuna.

She collapsed on the floor.

"Mistress!" bellowed Kerai.

Shortly afterwards, everything began to go downhill for Setsuna's minions.

Suddenly, Lucy hit all of Kerai's clones with her whip, causing them all to disappear into smoke.

"I didn't realize that I could use this to attack all of the clones at once." said the kunoichi.

"Noooo!" screamed the kunoichi.

"Lucy Kick!" bellowed Lucy.

Immediately, she hit Kerai right between the legs, causing him to collapse on the floor in a heap.

"Ugh..." murmured the bandit chief.

"You didn't tell me that you specialized in taijutsu, Lucy." said Temari.

"Taijutsu? You mean physical jutsus and the like?" inquired the kunoichi.

Temari nodded.

"That actually isn't my speciality...summoning creatures is." answered Lucy.

"Really? You've got a really mighty kick..." noted the kunoichi.

"Gee, thanks." spoke the kunoichi.

With both the bandit queen and the bandit chief down for the count, the bandits decided to retreat.

"I guess they were cowards." noted Temari.

"They sure were." answered Lucy.

Meanwhile, Naruto was still fighting against Chihiro. However, much like Temari, he was feeling rather exhausted.

"I can't fight much longer..." noted the chunin.

"Good!" exclaimed Chihiro.

Likewise, Kankuro appeared to be have spent much of his chakra as well, as his puppets were beginning to slow down.

"How long is this battle going to be?" inquired Kankuro.

"It's been raging on for about half an hour." answered Naruto.

"That doesn't bode too well for us, does it? We don't have unlimited chakra." acknowledged the ninja.

"Well, no ninja does. That's impossible." said the chunin.

Fortunately, help arrived from a rather familiar source.

"Hey you! Yeah you!" bellowed Taurus.

"Huh?" asked Chihiro.

Suddenly, Taurus crawled out of the arena.

"You! You zapped my girlfriend!" exclaimed the minotaur.

"Um..." murmured the kunoichi.

Immediately, he began to charge towards Chihiro.

She was caught completely off-guard, and was sending flying back several feet.

"Aargh!" bellowed the kunoichi.

"Yeah! Way to go, Taurie pie!" exclaimed Aries.

"Would you care to help me? She's getting back up..." noted Taurus.

Sure enough, Chihiro was getting back up to her feet.

Aries nodded, and hit her with another Wool Bomb, knocking her back down.

"Thank goodness...I think we're actually winning now..." acknowledged Kankuro.

"Didn't she have a jutsu that she could use for crowd control?" inquired Naruto.

Suddenly, Chihiro hit Aries and Taurus with her electric pulse jutsu, sending them both backwards.

"Oh, right...that jutsu..." noted the puppetmaster.

"Not bad! But it all ends here!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Suddenly, Naruto noticed Virgo was just standing there.

"Er...why are you not helping them?" inquired the chunin.

Virgo jumped in surprise. Apparently, she wasn't paying attention.

"Sorry, master! I should have paid more attention! Punish me!" bellowed Virgo.

Naruto poked her in the belly, causing her to giggle like the Pillsbury Doughboy.

"You're not a bad girl...don't be so hard on yourself." said Naruto.

"Is there anything I can do?" inquired Virgo.

"Well, I need someone with muscle...and I think you happen to be stronger than you look." noted the chunin.

"I can transform into a gorilla-like form actually..." said the maiden.

"What? You can?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah...most people are terrified of it though...I've only had one summoner that ever wanted me to look like that..." spoke Virgo.

"Being terrified, I can live with. I cannot say the same if I experienced about ten thousand volts." explained the chunin.

"Oh, right...wouldn't want you to die master." nodded the Celestial Spirit.

Immediately, she transformed into her gorilla form, causing Kankuro and Naruto to gasp.

"You're right, Virgo...your gorilla form is rather scary...and yet it's somehow beautiful..." noted the chunin.

"You flatter me, master." said Virgo in a rather scary-sounding voice.

"Maybe you could try body slamming her? That seems as good of a strategy as any." suggested Naruto.

Kankuro nodded. That did seem like a good idea.

"Here I go!" exclaimed Virgo, running straight towards Chihiro.

As it turned out, Taurus and Aries were both hugging each other tightly, as she was about to charge up some very deadly lightning bolts in each of her palms.

"You thought you could defeat me, did you? It's time for you to taste...my sheer power!" exclaimed Chihiro.

Suddenly, she noticed that a very large shadow had appeared below her.

"What?" asked the kunoichi.

She looked up...and her jaw dropped in shock.

"Oh...dear..." murmured Chihiro.

Virgo landed on top of Chihiro, knocking her out cold instantly.

She then turned back to her regular form.

"So, how did I do, master?" inquired the maiden.

"You did great, Virgo!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Thank you." said Virgo.

Naruto immediately handed her a cookie.

"You're too kind." answered the maiden.

"I know...I'm a sweetheart...girls say it all the time." spoke the chunin.

Meanwhile, Gaara was trying to find a way to become a vampireslayer while making Kimimaro wake up.

Immediately, he began to pull out some pans and began to bang them together.

Kimimaro was still asleep.

"That didn't work." noted the son of the Fourth Kazekage.

"Good luck trying to wake him up! Ahhahahaha." answered Dracferatu.

Gaara tried playing an electric guitar next, but that didn't work either.

"I don't even play the guitar." noted the sand ninja.

Oddly enough, not even the screeching of the bats appeared to be waking Kimimaro up.

Hopefully the spell was going to wear off soon. By the looks of it, he had been put to sleep forever.

Sighing, it looked like he was going to continue fighting Dracferatu without him.

However, as it turned out...help was arriving from an unlikely source.

**"Would you like to tap into my chakra?" **inquired Shukaku.

"Hmm? You're offering to help me?" asked Gaara.

**"I hate vampires...so yes." **answered the tanuki.

"Alright then..." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, he transformed one of Gaara's arms into that of his own.

"This brings back memories." noted the sand ninja.

He then began to use it to grab Dracferatu. This time, he was having a harder time breaking free.

"Hey! Let me go!" exclaimed the vampire.

He then began to pummel Dracferatu in the ground, leaving cracks in the floor as he did so.

"Ouch! Ow! Oof! This is surprisingly painful." noted Dracferatu.

He then flung him far away, sending him crashing into the chairs on the other side of the Chunins Exams arena.

As soon as he helped himself to his feet, he began to see bats surrounding his head.

Apparently, he had a concussion.

"Why is this boy so tough? He looked innocent enough when I first saw him..." asked Dracferatu as he rubbed his forehead.

Then again, not everyone was who they first appeared to be.

Unfortunately for Dracferatu, Gaara's Shukaku arm now happened to be elastic.

"You didn't tell me you could stretch." noted the sand ninja.

**"I happen to be rather...flexible." **answered Shukaku.

"Well, admittedly the arm was partly made of sand." acknowledged Gaara.

He then began to smash Dracferatu into concrete, who as this point was taking quite a beating.

"Aaugh! I can't take this anymore!" bellowed the vampire.

At this point, Kimimaro began to wake up.

"Good to see you're awake...it's a pretty bad idea to go to sleep on the battlefield. Then again, I wouldn't do it even if I wasn't on the battlefield." answered Gaara.

"Does that have anything to do with your tailed beast?" inquired Kimimaro.

"Yes, it does." answered the sand ninja.

Immediately, Kimimaro fashioned a stake made out of bone, and stabbed Dracferatu in the chest.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed the vampire.

However, he missed his heart by the few inches.

Nonetheless, this was enough to take him out.

"Well, we may not be vampireslayers...but at least we managed to defeat one." answered Gaara.

"That's still rather impressive." noted Kimimaro.

"Should we still call ourselves vampireslayers?" inquired the sand ninja.

"I don't know." answered the bone ninja.

Meanwhile, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi were still facing Vladimir. Unfortunately, he appeared to have the advantage over the three of them.

Why you may ask? Because Vladimir was the top servant of an ancient vampire...and he was up against a bunch of kids.

Well, technically they were preteens. But you got the idea.

"What are we going to do? This vampire bat is tough..." noted Konohamaru.

"At this rate we're going to get exsanguinated!" exclaimed Udon.

Moegi began to shudder. Were they going to die? She always thought that she had so much left to live for.

Then again, she couldn't quite remember what she was living life for at the moment, since she was scared out of her wits.

Were they going to become Dracferatu's vampire spawn?

And to make matters worse, Vladimir was getting better at avoiding his kunai and was flying around faster.

At this rate, he wasn't going to be able to hit him at all.

"There's got to be way to save my friends...they're counting on me!" exclaimed the genin.

"Say your prayers!" exclaimed Vladimir.

"Wouldn't those hurt you and your owner?" inquired Udon.

"On second thought, don't say your prayers!" bellowed the vampire bat.

"Hmm..." thought Moegi.

Curious, they tried saying their prayers, and a lighting bolt hit Vladimir from the heavens.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed the vampire. Being on the side of an unholy creature had its disadvantages.

However, he still did not go down.

"What to do..." murmured Konohamaru.

Suddenly, he noticed that one of the judges' chairs was standing next to him.

It actually wasn't very heavy.

Shrugging, he decided to use it as an improvised weapon.

"Stand back from my friends and I! I'm warning you!" bellowed Naruto's apprentice.

Vladimir ignored him, still wishing to drink his blood.

He paid the price from it.

Immediately, Konohamaru began to whack Vladimir with the chair, causing him to screech.

"Yeow! That hurts!" bellowed the vampire bat.

"Never suck the blood of my friends!" exclaimed the genin.

He then finished Vladimir off with another blow from the chair, causing him to collapse on the floor.

"How could I lose...to a bunch of brats?" inquired the vampire bat as he passed out.

"Wow! We actually managed to win! Naruto will be so proud!" exclaimed Konohamaru.

"I know...is he doing OK?" asked Udon.

"I think so...he appears to be recovering from his injuries over there." answered the genin.

Curious, he noticed that there appeared to be a nurse with him that happened to have purple hair.

"How did she get there?" inquired Konohamaru.

As it turned out, Virgo was giving Naruto some bandages.

"There! Now you're as good as new!" exclaimed the maiden.

"Thank you." said the genin.

"Do I get bandages too?" inquired Kankuro.

"What's the magic word?" asked Virgo.

"Please." said the puppetmaster.

Virgo immediately handed Kankuro some band-aids.

"Thank you." answered the sand sibling.

Likewise, Temari and Lucy were recovering from their battle as well.

"That was a big fight..." noted the kunoichi.

**"I'll say! It lasted for two chapters!" **bellowed Kurama.

"My nine-tailed fox is breaking the fourth wall..." said Lucy.

"Is he now? I don't ever recall Gaara's tailed beast ever doing that..." answered Temari.

"You can hear his tailed beast too?" inquired the summoner.

"Well, sometimes I can. It depends on how loud he's being. Right now he appears to be celebrating his victory." said the wind kunoichi.

**"We are the champions! We are the champions!" **exclaimed Shukaku.

"I suppose we are." agreed Gaara, who actually began to smile.

The judges reappeared shortly afterwards.

"Is the carnage over?" asked one of the judges.

"Yes...I actually managed to take down a giant vampire bat..." answered Konohamaru.

"Really? Congratulations, Konohamaru!" bellowed Naruto.

"Thank you...he was tough, but we managed to prevail in the end. I hit him with a chair..." said the genin.

"Well, considering how brave you were in that situation...I think you and your teammates deserve the title of chunin." said one of the judges.

"Yes!" cheered Udon and Moegi.

Likewise, the judges decided to do the same for Kimimaro. Personally, they thought he was strong enough to become a jonin.

But like all ninja, he needed to work his way from the bottom.

"Well, it looks like I'll get to go on B-Rank Missions now..." noted Kimimaro.

"Congratulations! Then again I go on A-Rank Missions all the time these days...even though I was a chunin until about half an hour ago..." acknowledged Naruto.

"How ironic. So, can I go home now?" asked Lucy.

"Give the jonin a few moments to lower the barricades." said one of the judges.

Suddenly, the Water siblings burst into the arena.

"Are we too late for the finals?" inquired one of the siblings.

"Well, admittedly you did show up late." acknowledged another judge.

"We know..." answered another sibling.

"Do you want us what you can do?" inquired yet another judge.

One of the siblings began to smash the ground with his hammer, another began to scult clay into explosive clay figures, and yet another used a powerful water jutsu.

"You seem impressive enough. You pass!" exclaimed the first judge.

The Water Siblings began to cheer.

"Who do those remind me of?" asked Kimimaro.

Gaara shrugged. He couldn't tell.

Eventually, all the barricades were lowered, and Lucy was free to go.

"Alright! Now I can head back home again!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"You sure have been gone for a while, haven't you?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, I have." answered Lucy.

Konohamaru in particular was looking forward to seeing his teacher again...who unfortunately had jury duty and could not attend the Chunin Exam finals.

"Jury duty at a time like this? What were they thinking?" inquired the freshly promoted chunin.

He let out a sigh.

But at least he would be able to tell everyone else the good news.

_Meanwhile..._

Due to the fact that Konoha had been barricaded to protect it from the wanted criminals, Natsu had a rather hard time getting home.

"What took you so long?" inquired Erza.

"Sorry, I had to wait for each of the jonin to lower the barricades...the Chunin Exams were attacked and they were trying to defend Konoha from the criminals." explained Natsu.

"The Chunin Exams? Was Lucy OK?" asked Gray.

"She made it out alright, fortunately. She even became a Chunin." said the fire mage.

"Really? That's awesome!" exclaimed the knight.

"Yes, we know." nodded Natsu.

"So, did Naruto become a chunin too?" inquired Erza.

"He sure did!" exclaimed the fire mage.

"Yes!" cheered the knight.

"And so did Kimimaro!" exclaimed Natsu.

"That's good news for everyone then." noted Gray.

"Yeah..." answered the fire mage.

Suddenly, they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Hmm? Is someone there?" asked Erza.

Curious, they opened the door.

It was none other than Professor Fumbledore.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for your latest recruit...Chiyoye Headstone." said the wizard.

Natsu, Gray, and Erza gasped in shock upon realizing who he was referring to.

"You might want to...speak to Makarov about that." spoke Erza.

"Yes, of course." answered the professor.

Immediately, he went to speak to Makarov.

"Yes, how may I help you?" inquired the guildmaster.

"I'm looking for Chiyoye Headstone." said Professor Fumbledore.

Makarov was rather surprised.

"I'm afraid she isn't here anymore...she already left the guild a long time ago." answered the guildmaster.

Professor Fumbledore sighed.

"Sorry to disappoint you." answered Makarov.

"She's probably devastating the environment as we speak..." noted the professor.

"Yes...from what Erza and Naruto told me, she was very proficient in draining life...how much do you know about her?" inquired Makarov.

"More than I would like to." answered Professor Fumbledore.

"What do you know?" asked the guildmaster.

"I did research into our past...looking for something that I could use to try to redeem her...but in the end, I didn't find anything. It's as if she's the devil himself. She was sadistic even as a child." spoke the professor.

"That's rather unfortunate..." noted Makarov. Was there really no redemption for Chiyoye?

"Did you know that she destroyed her own village?" inquired Professor Fumbledore.

"She what?!" bellowed the guildmaster.

"Yes, it's true...she murdered everyone in the village and razed it to the ground. I cannot believe that she would do something like it myself. But all the facts lead towards her as the culprit." answered the magician teacher.

"I see." nodded Makarov.

"Personally I was going to search for her so that I could bring her to justice for everything she did...so that I could redeem myself." spoke Professor Fumbledore.

"Redeem yourself?" inquired the guildmaster of Fairy Tail.

"I used to be her teacher." said the man.

"Oh my." answered Makarov.

"I know...she was the worst witch I could have ever picked to be one of her students...I regret every moment of it." answered Professor Fumbledore.

"Yeah...I personally regret ever letting her into my guild. I wonder if I should come with you..." noted the guildmaster.

"No no no. You're still needed here. Don't throw your life away. Besides, I feel like this is something that I need to do myself." demanded the elderly magician.

"Alright, alright." nodded Makarov. Admittedly, he did have a point. Without him Fairy Tail would be significantly weakened.

"Wait, didn't you mention something about being a teacher?"

"I used to be...until Chiyoye murdered my students..." answered Professor Fumbledore.

"That's terrible. I know how exactly how you feel. Chiyoye murdered some of my guildmates too. Gruesomely, no less." nodded Makarov.

"Were they stripped to the bone?" inquired the professor.

"Yes, they were." answered the guildmaster, looking like he was about to cry.

"That's the fate that befell my students. I really should have kept a better eye on her." noted the former teacher.

"Maybe I should have kept a closer eye on her too. I'm sealing off her room brick by brick as we speak." answered Makarov.

"How close are you to finishing?" inquired Professor Fumbledore.

"We're almost done..." Makarov sighed. "Almost..."

"Do you have any leads to where she had gone?" asked the professor.

"Well, I believe she's looking for more victims so that she can make herself powerful...she even murdered four people that some of our newer recruits knew personally...granted, they weren't exactly friends of theirs, but they all agreed that they should never had died like that." answered Makarov.

"Believe me, I wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy." noted Professor Fumbledore.

"Who is your worst enemy?" inquired the guildmaster.

"The man who keeps stealing my hat." answered the professor.

Suddenly, a man walked into the room and stole his hat.

"There he goes again." spoke Professor Fumbledore.

"Got your hat!" exclaimed the man as he ran away.

"Should I get your hat back for you?" asked Makarov.

"Maybe later. We have more important matters to discuss." answered the professor.

"Yes, of course." answered the guildmaster.

"Is there anything you happen to know about Chiyoye? I don't know everything about her...though I know quite a bit about her nonetheless." spoke the elderly magician.

"Well, she came here to steal the Book Of The Dark Arts...and succeeded." noted Makarov.

"That's quite serious." acknowledged Professor Fumbledore.

"Agreed." nodded Makarov.

"She may have stolen other spellbooks in the past, she may have not." answered the professor.

"Well, Naruto did mention something about finding dark spellbooks underneath her room...some of our mages are having a look at them as we speak." noted the guildmaster.

"A wise decision." agreed Professor Fumbledore.

"Well, it was nice meeting a wizard like yourself." said Makarov as he shook his hand. "It's good to see that there's someone else who has had years of experience."

"But you look so young..." answered the professor.

"That's because a friend of mine taught me a jutsu." explained the guildmaster.

"A jutsu?" asked Professor Fumbledore. He had never heard of such a thing.

"It's a long story." spoke Makarov.

"Mm-hmm." answered the professor.

"Now that I think of it...considering that she has already drained the life out of a town...maybe she's heading to a city next." noted the guildmaster.

Professor Fumbledore's eyes widened in surprise.

"I think I know where she's going now." said the mage.

"You do?" inquired Makarov.

"Well, I might know where she's going...she may be planning to destroy my home city." said Professor Fumbledore.

"And that is..." spoke the guildmaster.

"Mana City." answered the elderly mage.

"Yes, I wish good luck to you. And remember, the faster you arrive there, the less opportunities Chiyoye gets to become stronger." noted Makarov.

"I'm well-aware of that, thank you. It's a pity that she turned to the dark side...she was such a promising pupil." acknowledged Professor Fumbledore.

"She was a promising mage to us too...though maybe we should have been more hesistant to take her in." agreed the guildmaster.

"Right, I'll teleport there and be on it." said the former teacher.

"Try not to die. We want you to stop her, not assist her." warned Makarov, knowing that he would have his life drained if he lost.

"Not to worry...Chiyoye can't gather much strength from the elderly...nor can she drain the life from the sick without getting ill herself." noted the professor.

"That must be a pretty big weakness for her." acknowledged the guildmaster.

"It sure is." nodded Professor Fumbledore.

"Goodbye then. Good luck against Chiyoye!" exclaimed Makarov.

He immediately teleported out of his office.

_Meanwhile..._

Once again, Kenichi was having trouble deciding which clan should be next. He couldn't quite put a finger on it this time.

He had tried killing more people that had the misfortune of encountering him while thinking of a plan, but eventually he ran out of victims. He did not know whether they were just hiding or whether he simply wasn't having any luck.

"What to do..." said the man.

Apparently, it was time to check the world map. Surely there was another clan that he had not destroyed yet. More clans appeared in Konoha in all the time, and he made sure to keep himself updated of recent events.

"Let's see now..." answered Kenichi as he began to survey the world map.

Personally he was rather glad that he was keeping this with him nowadays. He couldn't travel around the world effectively without it. He was fairly skilled at geography, though he did not quite know the world of ninja like the back of his hand yet. It would take him a few more months, at least.

Already, he had crossed out the clans he had already eradicated. The map in question was heavily covered with Xs. He never showed any mercy, not to the weak. They didn't deserve it, he had said. Men, women, children...it didn't matter to him. They all deserved to be wiped out.

"Where haven't I gone yet?" inquired the ninja as he pulled out a marker.

Suddenly, he noticed a land on the map that he had not noticed before.

"What's this?" pondered Kenichi.

As it turned out, it was none other than the Land Of Waves.

Curious, he discovered that though it was more than large enough to be considered a land, it did not contain a hidden village, and that therefore it did not have any ninja protecting it.

Not only that, but it was a very dependent nation, relying entirely on assistance from other villages such as Konohagakure.

He gasped in surprise. Why hadn't he attacked the Land Of Waves before?

He had just hit the motherload.

"The Land Of Waves...must be destroyed." said Kenichi.

Immediately, he circled the Land Of Waves on his map, and he hopped onto his dragon, Kaishi, and began to fly towards the Land Of Waves.

"They're going to all perish at my hand." he promised himself.

_The Land Of Waves is in big trouble...Kenichi's going to invade! That's just terrible._

_But at least Naruto and his friends are Chunin now...granted, maybe some of you wanted him to remain as a genin forever...but that's not how things are going to work in my fanfic. Sorry, but I felt that he deserved to be promoted. He does want to be Hokage after all._

_In the next chapter, there's going to be a race! Can you guess which one?_


	35. Chapter 35: The 24-Hour Endurance Race

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...there's going to be a race. That's right, it's the 24-Hour Endurance Race! Yes, I know that this was based on a filler episode...but this chapter is actually connected to the plot. Really, I promise!_

_Can you guess whose going to win? And whose going to receive the punishment? Well, you're about to find out._

**Chapter 35: The 24-Hour Endurance Race**

Naruto was very happy. After about sixteen years, he had finally gotten the opportunity to become a chunin.

He felt like throwing a party.

And to make matters better, he got the feeling that something exciting was going to happen today.

"I wonder what it is." answered the chunin.

Suddenly, the pager he had in his pocket went off.

"Hmm?" questioned Naruto.

Curious, he decided to see who it was from.

It was none other than Makarov.

"Greetings, Naruto! Today is the day that we're going to begin our annual 24-Hours Endurance Race!" exclaimed the man.

"The 24-Hours Endurance Race?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Yes, you heard me correctly. Your friends are all invited to attend...so long as they happen to have the Fairy Tail guild mark..." said Makarov.

"The Fairy Tail guild mark?" inquired the chunin.

"That way nobody will get confused..." spoke the guildmaster.

"Fair enough." answered Naruto.

Curious, he wondered who he should tell first.

"I know! I'll start with Hinata!" exclaimed the chunin.

However, as it turned out, she already knew.

"Er, did you get the message on your pager?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, I did. I'm feeling rather excited." noted Hinata.

"Yeah...I guess so." answered the chunin.

"I've never really been in a race though..." acknowledged the kunoichi.

"Wait...did you tell your father about this?" inquired Naruto.

Hinata nodded.

"Did he say yes?" asked the chunin.

"Yes. he did. He said that it would be good exercise for me." answered the fire dragonslayer.

"Alright then! Let's go!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Should we tell Sakura too?" inquired Hinata.

However, Sakura already knew as well.

"Tsunade said that it would be good training...so I guess I'll go." answered the kunoichi.

"I guess we should go visit the Ino-Shika-Cho trio next..." noted Naruto.

"Yes, we should." answered Hinata.

Sure enough, Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru wanted to participate in the race as well.

"It sounds exciting! I bet with my new speed powers I'll have an advantage..." noted Ino.

"Yeah, I bet you will." answered Choji.

"I'm not one to race typically...but I guess I'll stick around just so I can see the race firsthand..." said Shikamaru.

"OK." answered Naruto.

Immediately, the six entered the interdimensional portal.

Sure enough, everyone seemed rather excited about the race.

"I'm looking forward to this!" exclaimed Alzack.

"So am I!" bellowed Bisca.

"I'm going to be drinking so hard after this..." spoke Cana.

"I thought you were going to drink in moderation from now on..." questioned Mirajane.

"Oh yeah..." answered the drinker.

"I'm going to crush my competition!" exclaimed Jet.

"I bet you are." agreed Droy.

"We'll see about that." answered Levy.

Gajeel was flexing his muscles. He was looking forward to the race apparently.

Juvia and Gray also seemed fairly excited.

"Isn't this great, Gray?" asked Juvia.

"It sure is." nodded the ice mage.

Happy was jumping up and down.

"I'm going to win this!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"What makes you so sure?" asked Natsu.

"I won the race in the actual episode!" bellowed Happy.

"Oh, right..." answered the fire dragonslayer.

"I've got a good feeling about this." said Elfman.

Immediately, Makarov beckoned the guild members outside to where the race was going to take place.

Sure enough, there was a path detailing where everyone needed to go.

"Greetings, everyone! It's time for our annual race...as we all know, Jet managed to win this year...he beat all the competition." noted Makarov.

Immediately, everyone else applauded Jet.

"As a reward, he received a trophy...and got to be on the front page of the Sorceror's Magazine." continued the guildmaster.

Jet held out last year's issue of the Sorceror's Magazine to show off to the audience.

"Suffice to say, he became popular very quickly." noted Makarov.

"I bet he did." answered Juvia.

"Of course, just because he won last year doesn't he mean he will this year. It's anyone's game...though admittedly he does have an advantage." acknowledged the guildmaster.

"Meh." replied Jet.

"The rules are rather similar. You need to climb up the mountain off in the distance and collect a dragon scale. The first person to return to the finish line wins the race and will get a trophy. They will also get to be on the front page of the Sorceror's Magazine after an interview with the publishers. It's something to look forward to." spoke Makarov.

"I bet so!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Of course, if you score last place, you're in for a heap of trouble. You'll have to attend an interview with the Sorceror's Magazine publishers...wearing women's clothing!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

The male members of the guild gasped.

"What if we happen to be girls?" inquired Mirajane.

"Then you will have to dress as a man." answered Makarov.

The female members of the guild gasped.

"Right...I suggest you all do your best. Go to the starting line and wait for me to give the signal, will you?" asked the guildmaster.

The members of Fairy Tail nodded, and began to stand on the starting line.

Assuming that Makarov was going to wait a while before starting the signal, Naruto decided to pull out the latest edition of the Sorceror's Magazine. He was looking forward to being in it.

However, Sakura quickly noticed.

"Um, hi?" asked Naruto.

She began to glare at him.

"3, 2, 1, go!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

Immediately, Naruto began to leap away, right before Sakura tried to grab him.

"Wait until I get my hands on you!" exclaimed the kunoichi, trying to catch Naruto.

Happy began to fly on the sky, hoping that he would be able to get through the course with ease.

However, he was not that fortunate.

"Flying is prohibited!" bellowed Makarov with a loudspeaker.

Suddenly, Happy crashed into the ground.

"Oww..." murmured the Exceed.

Apparently, he was going to have to run.

Unless...

Immediately, he began to build a catapult.

Hinata quickly noticed.

"What are you doing, Happy?" asked the kunoichi.

"I'm building a catapult so that I can get to the top of the mountain faster!" exclaimed Happy.

"Didn't the guildmaster say that we weren't allowed to fly?" asked Hinata.

"It's not flying! It's falling...with style!" bellowed the Exceed.

"Whatever you say." said the fire dragonslayer.

Oddly enough, Shikamaru did not seem to be interested in racing.

Lucy immediately noticed, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you going to try to win?" asked the summoner kunoichi.

"I don't really feel like racing..." answered Shikamaru.

"But if you don't race, you'll have to dress like a woman!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Hmm...wear a dress or take a nap..." pondered the shadow ninja. "Meh, I'm still choosing the latter."

"Have fun being a transvestite then..." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, she began to leap towards the mountain.

Jet had a big smile on his face. There was no way that anyone else was going to be able to win the race...

However, he got the feeling that he was forgetting something.

"Now what is it?" inquired the speed mage.

"Hey there!" exclaimed Ino.

Curious, he looked around, and gasped in shock.

Ino was running neck to neck with him.

"Oh, that's right...I'm not the only one with super speed anymore..." noted Jet.

Suddenly, he found himself being entangled with vines.

"Agh! Let me go!" exclaimed Jet.

As it turned out, he had been tangled up with Choji's vines.

"Huh? Oh that's right...nobody said anything about casting spells to impede the other racers." noted the speed mage.

Ino unfortunately dashed ahead of him, and he was forced to try to break free.

"This won't take long...right?" inquired Jet.

Immediately, Choji sped past him inflated like a wrecking ball, causing him to groan.

Meanwhile, Happy had just finished his catapult. It was even sparkling.

"Alright! We're good to go now!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"That's good to hear." answered Hinata.

"I'll test it out on this sleepyhead boy." answered Happy.

Immediately, he lifted up Shikamaru and put him in the catapult.

"Here we go!" exclaimed the Exceed.

Pulling the lever, Shikamaru was sent flying straight towards the mountain.

"Success!" bellowed Happy.

Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"You do realize that was one of the racers, right?" asked the kunoichi.

"What?!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"Personally I'm not sure why he would be sleeping like this...but yes, he was one of the racers." answered Hinata.

"D'oh!" bellowed Happy.

At that very moment, the catapult collapsed.

"Aw, man!" exclaimed the blue cat.

"Sorry. It looks like we won't be able to win that way." answered the fire dragonslayer.

Happy sighed. It looked like he was going to have be more old-fashioned.

"See you at the mountain!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"See you later!" bellowed Hinata.

Suddenly, she noticed Natsu running towards her.

"Hey there, Natsu!" exclaimed the female dragonslayer.

"Hey there, Hinata!" bellowed the male dragonslayer.

Immediately, Hinata began to leap like a kangaroo in order to stay ahead of Natsu.

Recalling that he was Hinata's interdimensional partner, the fire mage tried to do the same...

...but it ended with a tragedy.

"Aaugh! My ankle!" screamed Natsu.

"Natsu!" bellowed Hinata.

Immediately, she stopped leaping towards the mountain.

"Are you OK?" asked the kunoichi.

"I think so...ugh! I can't walk at all!" bellowed Natsu.

"Oh no!" bellowed Hinata.

"How am I going to race now?" asked the fire mage.

Getting rather desperate, she grabbed Natsu's arms and wrapped them around her stomach.

"What are you doing?" inquired the male dragonslayer.

"I'm giving you a piggyback ride." answered the female dragonslayer.

"Really?" asked Natsu.

"My father said to never leave another ninja behind...or in this case mage." spoke Hinata.

"That's awfully generous of you...but what about my motion sickness?" inquired the male dragonslayer.

Hinata sighed.

"It looks like we're walking." noted the female dragonslayer.

Meanwhile, Naruto was trying to get as far away from Sakura as he could.

"Oh man! She's so fast!" exclaimed the chunin.

"I'm going to get you, Naruto!" bellowed Sakura.

Naruto sighed. Was there no hope for him?

Suddenly, he noticed that he was rather close to Lucy. He could see her a few feet away.

"Hey there, Lucy!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Hey there, Naruto...er, why is Sakura chasing you?" asked the jinchuriki.

"I read this magazine and looked at the girls on it..." answered the chunin.

"Oh..." answered the summoner kunoichi.

Curious, she decided to examine the Sorceror's Magazine for herself.

"Dang! The girls in this magazine look good! I wish I had that kind of body!" exclaimed Lucy.

**"So do I." **said Kurama.

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Um, Lucy..." murmured Naruto.

"What?" asked the chunin kunoichi curiously.

"I think Sakura wants to kill you now." answered the former jinchuriki.

Sure enough, Sakura had steam coming out of her ears.

"Jump for your life!" exclaimed Lucy.

Immediately, the duo began to leap towards the mountain as fast as they could.

Of course, Sakura was still pursuing them.

"You can't jump away from me forever!" bellowed the medical ninja.

Immediately, she discarded her shirt, leaving her in her sarashi.

"There! Now I can leap faster!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Funny, that's what I did." noted Gray.

Sure enough, he was shirtless...and Juvia was absolutely ecstatic about it.

"Oh. Hey there, Gray." said the kunoichi.

"How are you doing?" asked the ice mage.

"I'm trying to catch Naruto and Lucy." answered Sakura.

"Good luck with that then." noted Gray.

Sakura continued to pursue Naruto and Lucy.

Meanwhile, Hinata was still walking towards the mountain.

"I'm starting to know how that turtle in that race felt..." noted the kunoichi.

"Why couldn't we be the bunny?" asked Natsu.

"Didn't the bunny lose?" inquired Hinata.

"Only because he was a slacker." answered the fire mage.

"You mean like Shikamaru?" asked the fire kunoichi.

"Hahaha." laughed Natsu.

"Right...I don't think it should be too long before we reach the mountain...even if we are at walking speed." noted Hinata.

"That's a relief." answered the male dragonslayer.

Suddenly, they noticed Shikamaru flying above their heads.

"I didn't know that Shikamaru can fly..." questioned Natsu.

"He can't..." answered Hinata, recalling how Happy had tested out the catapult on him a few minutes prior.

Strangely, he was still sleeping...even in midair. He must have been one heck of a heavy sleeper.

Meanwhile, Mirajane and Elfman were racing neck to neck.

"You sure have gotten fast." noted Mirajane.

"I could say the same to you, sister." answered Elfman.

"I guess I've lost weight..." noted the S-Class Mage.

"Maybe you have." acknowledged the S-Class candidate.

"I think we're doing well, wouldn't you say?" asked Mirajane.

Suddenly, they fell into a hole.

"Spoke too soon." spoke the S-Class Mage.

Sure enough, Levy passed them.

"You want to help each other out of this?" asked Elfman.

"That's what brothers and sisters are for." nodded Mirajane.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Lucy were still trying to avoid Sakura.

Immediately, they began to climb up the mountain.

Curious, he noticed that Erza was making her way towards them, and began to wave.

Oddly enough, she actually waved back.

However, he then remembered that he and Lucy were in danger.

"Oh that's right...climb climb climb!" bellowed Naruto.

Frantically, they climbed up the mountain as fast as they could. Sakura was not far behind.

"Even the Abominable Snowman is terrified of me!" bellowed the kunoichi.

Sure enough, the Abominable Snowman screamed in terror and fled for the hills.

"Wow." thought Naruto.

"She wasn't kidding." noted Lucy.

Meanwhile, Alzack and Bisca were also neck and neck.

"I wonder which one of us is going to cross the finish line first?" asked Alzack.

"Maybe we could cross the finish line together and hope for a tie?" inquired Bisca.

Suddenly, they were grabbed by a lasso.

"What the-" exclaimed the cowgirl.

Immediately, they found themselves tied to a tree.

"Thanks for loaning me this!" exclaimed Cana.

"So that's why she wanted one of those..." noted Alzack.

Immediately, Cana ran on ahead of them.

"We're going to have to cut ourselves free..." acknowledged Bisca as she pulled out a knife.

"Should I start or should you?" asked the cowboy.

"Hmm..." thought the cowgirl.

Elsewhere, Shikamaru landed on the top of the mountain in a heap.

"Oof!" bellowed the teenage ninja.

Immediately, he began to rub his head.

"What happened?" inquired Shikamaru.

Curious, he noticed that there were several dragon scales on the top of the mountain.

"Well, I might as well take one of these..." noted the shadow ninja.

Immediately, he picked up a black dragon scale and put it in his pocket. It seemed as good of a spot to put it as any.

"Now to get back to my nap..." said the Nara clan member.

He went back to sleep, snoring as he did so.

At the base of the mountain, Happy was having a hard time climbing up.

"Come on! Come on! Darn it! Why won't Makarov let me fly!" complained the blue Exceed.

Things just couldn't be easy, now could they?

At this rate, he was going to finish dead last...and have to dress up as a female Exceed.

He wasn't exactly looking forward to that. He wanted to protect his masculinity.

Besides, Natsu would probably laugh at him.

Speaking of which, where was he? He got the feeling that he would be at the mountain by now. He was always full of energy.

What was taking him so long?

Something strange was going on.

"Hmm..." thought the Exceed.

Thankfully, he was able to get a good grip on the mountain this time, and he was able to start making his way to the top.

"That's better!" exclaimed Happy.

Maybe now he wouldn't end up in last place.

"Just...a little further." said the cat.

Meanwhile, Hinata and Natsu had made it to the bottom of the mountain, and were beginning to climb up.

"Try to be more careful next time, OK?" asked the kunoichi.

"OK, I will." answered Natsu.

"I might not be there to help you next time..." acknowledged Hinata.

"Yeah, probably not. We both live in different worlds." noted the male dragonslayer.

"Yeah, we sure do." answered the female dragonslayer.

"I just wanted to leap like a ninja..." said the fire mage.

"Yeah...we've had accidents like that in the past..." noted the fire kunoichi.

_"Here I go!" exclaimed a ninja academy student._

_Immediately, he tried to leap from one side of the room to another._

_Instead, he ended up breaking his arm._

_"Aah! My arm!" bellowed the student._

_Kakashi sighed._

_A few minutes later, another student tried to leap from her desk to another._

_She fell and hit her face._

_"Ow!" exclaimed the female student._

_Kurenai sighed._

_Yet another student tried to leap from one side of the room to another._

_Instead, they decided to give up._

_Asuma sighed._

"Jumping around like a kangaroo can be a risky endeavour." acknowledged Hinata.

"I'll say!" exclaimed Natsu.

"It actually took me some time to get used to." spoke the female dragonslayer.

"Yeah...I might want to try leaping smaller distances next time..." agreed the male dragonslayer.

"Sounds like a plan." said Hinata.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Naruto had both made it to the top of the mountain.

Erza and Shikamaru were both already at the top.

"How'd you get here, Shikamaru?" questioned Lucy.

Shikamaru woke up with a start.

"Huh? What?" asked the shadow ninja.

"I'll be taking this, thanks." answered Erza.

Immediately, she picked up a scarlet dragon scale.

"I'll be seeing you later." said the knight, climbing down the mountain.

Curious, they noticed that Gajeel was climbing up the mountain as well.

"I guess we should hurry. The longer we stand around, the more time the other racers have to catch up with us." noted Naruto.

"Yes, of course." agreed Lucy.

Immediately, they picked out an orange and yellow dragon scale respectively.

"Naruto! Lucy!" bellowed Sakura.

Naruto and Lucy's blood ran cold.

Immediately, she ran forward, trying to punch Naruto down the mountain.

However, he avoided it, and he ended up knocking down Shikamaru instead.

"Aah!" exclaimed the shadow ninja.

"Shikamaru!" bellowed Lucy. Was he going to be OK?

"Run!" exclaimed Naruto.

Immediately, the two of them began to run down the mountain.

Stopping for a moment to pick up a pink dragon scale, Sakura began to pursue them.

At that very moment, Gajeel reached the top of the mountain.

"I'm finally here! I'm an expert at mountain climbing!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

He was going to have to brag to his friends. Then again, the members of Fairy Tail seemed a bit wary of him due to the fact that he was once part of Phantom Lord...except for Juvia and Sakura.

Immediately, he picked out a silver dragon scale.

"Now to cross the finish line!" bellowed the former Phantom Lord mage.

It was only a matter of time before he would win the race now...right?

Curious, he noticed that Happy was climbing up the mountain as well.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't bide my time." noted Gajeel.

Immediately, he began to climb down the mountain.

At that very moment, Hinata and Natsu reached the top.

"Thank goodness we're here..." noted the fire kunoichi.

"Yeah..." answered the male dragonslayer.

Immediately, Hinata picked out a purple dragon scale and Natsu picked out a red dragon scale.

"There...now all we have to do now is climb down the mountain." said Hinata.

"Yes, of course." nodded Natsu.

To make a long story short, they began to climb down the mountain.

At that very moment, Jet reached the top. Choji couldn't hold him forever.

"Alright!" exclaimed the speedy mage.

Immediately, he picked out a vermillion dragon scale.

"Back to the finish line I go!" bellowed Jet.

"You don't say?" inquired Ino.

"Oh...hey there." answered the speedy mage.

Ino picked out a violet dragon scale to go with her ninja outfit.

"I actually like these dragon scales...they look pretty. Too bad we won't be able to keep them." noted Ino.

"They sure do. I think that this race is going to be fun." agreed Choji as he picked out a maroon dragon scale.

Immediately, Jet sped down the mountain with Ino in hot pursuit.

"Wait for me!" exclaimed Choji as he began to inflate himself once more.

Cana climbed to the top of the mountain a few minutes later.

She decided to pick out a brown dragon scale.

"Alright..." said the former alcoholic.

Suddenly, she found herself being grabbed by Alzack. Apparently, they had broken free from the lasso Bisca had loaned her.

"Let go!" exclaimed Cana.

"Bisca, get to the finish line! I'll hold her off!" bellowed Alzack.

"Yes, Alzack!" shouted Bisca.

Immediately, Bisca picked out a white dragon scale.

Cana sighed. It looks like she wasn't going to be able to score first place.

She noticed Levy picking out a vermillion dragon scale, and began to sigh.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Naruto were racing down the mountain. How there were able to run down it without taking a tumble, they weren't quite sure.

Maybe there were just that terrified?

Curious, they noticed that Sakura had disappeared.

"Where did she go?" asked Lucy.

"I don't know. Maybe she gave up?" inquired Naruto.

They then noticed that the mountain was starting to get rather snowy.

"Oh, would you look at that. It snowed while we were away." noted the female jinchuriki.

"How did that happen?" questioned Konoha's hero.

Lucy shrugged. Something didn't seem quite right.

Suddenly, they began to hear the sound of a snowball running.

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

Curious, they looked behind them, and gasped.

An enormous snowball was heading straight towards them!

And judging from the pink hair poking out of it, Sakura was inside. Apparently, she wanted to run them over.

"Run for it!" bellowed the male chunin.

"I'm with you there!" exclaimed the female chunin.

Immediately, they began to run as fast as they could.

Unfortunately, Sakura was gathering momentum as she went downhill.

"Now I gotcha!" she exclaimed.

Meanwhile, a nearby snowman was feeling very unhappy. His body had melted, and he was now just a disembodied head.

"What a bother! I can't believe my body melted like this! What's a snowman to do? I wish I still had a body..." said the snowman.

At that very moment, Sakura crashed into the snowman, granting his wish in the process.

"Oh! Never mind then!" exclaimed the now embodied snowman.

Sakura rubbed her head. Why did she suddenly crash?

"Thank you for being so helpful towards me! How can I ever repay you?" asked the snowman.

Sakura raised the eyebrow. How could the snowman talk? Then again, she got the feeling that she had created it using her ice magic.

"Can you tell me where a blonde-haired boy and a blonde-haired girl went?" asked the kunoichi.

"They went that way!" exclaimed the snowman.

"Thanks." said Sakura, resuming her hunt for Naruto and Lucy.

"What a nice girl!" thought Sakura's snow creation.

Elfman and Mirajane reached the top of the mountain.

"I'm pooped." said Mirajane.

"You want me to carry you?" asked Elfman.

"Um, sure." answered the S-Class Mage.

Immediately, Elfman picked up Mirajane and put her on his back.

"There we go!" exclaimed the S-Class candidate.

"You sure you can carry me?" asked Mirajane.

"Of course I can! You're a lightweight!" exclaimed Elfman.

"Well, I do want to keep my good looks...so..." answered the demon mage.

Elfman picked up a tan dragon scale while Mirajane picked out a white dragon scale.

"Here we go!" exclaimed the S-Class candidate as he sped down the mountain.

"Much obliged." said Mirajane.

Maybe they would end up getting first place together. That would be pretty nice.

At that very moment, Cana broke free from Alzack's grip.

"Finally! That took forever!" bellowed the alcoholic. Who would have thought that he was so strong?

Immediately, she began to climb down the mountain, followed by Alzack himself.

Gray and Juvia reached the top a few seconds later.

"We better hurry." noted the ice mage.

Juvia nodded with agreement.

Immediately, Cyan picked out a cyan dragon scale while Juvia picked out a blue one.

"Lead the way!" exclaimed Juvia.

Sakura let out a sigh. She was hoping that she would be able to catch Naruto and Lucy by now.

But apparently, it wasn't meant to be.

At that very moment, Gajeel came running towards her.

"Hi?" asked Sakura.

"How are you doing?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

"I'm trying to catch Naruto and Lucy." answered the kunoichi.

"Need any help?" asked Gajeel.

"Um...sure." nodded Sakura.

Snapping his fingers, shackles suddenly grabbed onto Naruto and Lucy's legs.

"What the-" exclaimed the former jinchuriki.

"We're trapped!" bellowed the blonde girl.

"Now I've gotcha!" shouted Sakura.

Gajeel began to smirk. This was going to be so much fun to watch.

However, Erza was not going to let Sakura hurt her friends.

Immediately, she began to cut the shackles holding Naruto and Lucy prisoner.

"Thank you. She would have pulverized us..." noted the male chunin.

"Yeah..." agreed the chunin kunoichi.

"You're welcome. I'll try to hold her off." answered Erza.

"Thank you..." said Naruto.

Immediately, Lucy and Naruto began to race towards the finish line.

Unfortunately, Sakura was not giving up easily.

She grabbed onto the closest thing that she could find...which turned out to be Shikamaru, still recovering from her punch.

"What the-" said the shadow ninja, waking up from his nap.

Immediately, she began to spin him around like an athlete throwing the hammer.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Shikamaru.

She then tossed him at Naruto and Lucy...but only hit the latter.

"Wah!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Immediately, they both crossed the finish line.

"Congratulations, Lucy and Shikamaru! You've both secured first place!" exclaimed Makarov.

"Wow, Shikamaru. You managed to win a race by doing absolutely nothing." noted Lucy.

"I did? I feel so weird..." answered Shikamaru.

"No matter. Congratulations, you're a winner!" exclaimed the jinchuriki, shaking his hand.

"Aren't you a winner too?" asked the shadow ninja.

"Oh yeah...I guess we're both winners." answered Lucy.

Immediately, Makarov handed them both golden trophies.

"As a reward, you both get to be on the front page of the Sorceror's Magazine! How about that!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

"You mean...we're going to have our pictures taken together?" asked Shikamaru.

Makarov nodded.

Shikamaru and Lucy began to blush.

Meanwhile, Erza was fending off Sakura so that Naruto would stay safe.

Erza pulled out her swords, and Sakura pulled out an ice sword.

However, she was able to shatter it somewhat easily.

She then began to create an ice hammer.

Erza shattered it too, however.

"Let's try a spear..." said Sakura.

Erza shattered that as well.

"Oh c'mon!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Sakura pulled out an ice chainsaw...

...but Erza broke it.

"Fine! You win! I'll leave Naruto alone! Happy?" asked Sakura.

Erza nodded.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Aren't you going to cross the finish line?" asked the knight.

"I was thinking that you should go first...you did save my bacon..." noted Naruto.

"No no no. You can go on ahead. I don't mind." answered Erza.

Naruto decided to take a third option.

"Do you want to cross the finish line...together?" asked the chunin.

"Um...sure." nodded the knight.

They did just that.

"Naruto and Erza have both obtained second place!" exclaimed Makarov.

"Second place, huh? That's not too bad." noted Erza.

Personally she was expecting that she would be able to get first place considering how strong a mage she was...but she wasn't complaining about it.

"Yeah..." answered Naruto.

Immediately, Lucy and Shikamaru waved to Naruto.

"So, you got first place?" inquired the male chunin.

"Yes." answered Lucy.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Naruto.

Makarov handed Naruto and Erza silver trophies.

"Silver is more my color anyway." noted the Requip mage.

"Have fun having your picture taken together!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

Naruto and Erza began to blush.

At that very moment, Sakura decided now was a good time to cross the finish line.

Immediately, she did so...

...right when Gajeel did.

"Um, hi?" asked Sakura.

"Hello?" inquired Gajeel.

"Sakura and Gajeel have obtained third place!" exclaimed Makarov.

"Third place? I should have gotten first!" bellowed Gajeel.

"Sorry to hear that." answered Sakura.

"Aren't you a sweetie pie..." murmured the iron dragonslayer.

"But I just tried to beat Naruto and Lucy up a while ago..." noted the kunoichi.

"I know! It was hilarious!" exclaimed Gajeel.

Sakura sweatdropped.

Makarov handed Sakura and Gajeel bronze trophies.

Gajeel was tempted to eat Sakura's...but he decided not to.

"You two will be having pictures taken together...how about that." said Makarov.

"Um...sure." answered Sakura.

"Alright! Just as long as I can get my picture taken!" exclaimed Gajeel.

The next mages to cross the finish line were Juvia and Gray.

"How did we do?" asked Juvia.

"You got fourth place." answered Makarov.

"Alright." said Gray.

"I'm sure you two will enjoy having your picture taken together." said the guildmaster.

Juvia began to squeal.

The receiver of fifth place was Jet.

"Alright!" exclaimed the speed mage.

However, he then noticed that there were already other mages there.

"D'oh!" bellowed the man.

"Sorry, you didn't win this time. But at least you didn't score last place." noted Makarov.

"Fair enough." answered Jet.

Ino and Choji scored sixth place.

"Well, would you look at that. You've both scored sixth place. You're both going to be taking your picture together too." said the guildmaster.

"Yes!" cheered Ino.

"Woohoo!" exclaimed Choji.

"They sure seem happy about that." noted Makarov.

Mirajane and Elfman both scored seventh place.

"What a coincidence...you two are brother and sister, if I recall correctly." answered the guildmaster.

The duo both nodded.

"Well, congratulations. You two get to take your picture together." said Makarov.

Mirajane and Elfman cheered.

Alzack and Bisca both scored eighth place.

"Again with the mages tying for the same places...well, you both scored ninth place. I hope you two are happy." noted the guildmaster.

"We're happy so long as we don't have to endure the punishment." said Alzack.

"Fair enough." acknowledged Makarov.

"We get to have our picture taken together, right?" asked Bisca.

Makarov nodded.

"Yes!" they both exclaimed in unison.

The ninth person to cross the finish line was Cana.

"Darn it! I was hoping that I would do better." noted the former alcoholic.

"Maybe next time." answered Makarov.

"Yeah...maybe next time." said Cana.

The tenth person to cross the finish line was Droy.

"Did I make it?" asked the chubby mage.

"Yes, you did." answered Makarov.

"Alright." said Droy.

"You really could have done better though." noted the guildmaster.

Droy let out a sigh.

"Well, I guess you can try again next year." said Makarov.

"I guess..." answered the plant mage.

The eleventh person to cross the finish line was Levy.

"Hey everybody." said Levy.

Immediately, she began to read a book.

"This book keeps on getting more and more exciting." noted the letter mage.

She just had to read the ending of the book.

The twelveth person to cross the finish line was Happy.

"Did I win?" asked the Exceed.

"Not even close." answered Makarov.

"Aww!" complained Happy.

"Better luck next time." said the guildmaster.

"Am I going to have to dress up like a woman?" asked the Exceed.

"Well, you didn't actually lose the race...so..." murmured Makarov.

Happy let out a sigh of relief. He could keep his dignity at least.

"So who's left?" asked Naruto.

"Hinata...and Natsu I believe." answered Makarov.

At that very moment, Hinata came by carrying Natsu on her back.

She immediately collapsed on the finish line. Apparently, carrying him for so long had exhausted her.

"Sorry, Hinata and Natsu! It looks like you've lost. Looks like you're both going to be wearing clothing for the opposite gender." said Makarov.

"Uh-oh." said Hinata and Natsu in unison.

_A few minutes later..._

"Alright! We won!" exclaimed Lucy.

"I guess we did." answered Shikamaru.

"I feel so excited!" bellowed the kunoichi.

"I bet you are." noted the shadow ninja.

"I bet the creators of Sorceror's Magazine are going to be looking forward to seeing us..." said Lucy.

"I bet they are." nodded Shikamaru.

"I wonder what they'll have to say to us?" asked the summoner kunoichi.

"Probably something nice." answered the shadow ninja.

"Yeah...probably something like that." noted Lucy.

"So, I take it you'll be taking that trophy back home?" asked Shikamaru.

"Of course I will! I'll take it to my apartment!" bellowed the jinchuriki.

"Right, of course." nodded the Nara clan member.

Immediately, Lucy picked up her trophy and went to take it back home.

Oddly enough, her landlady was there to see her.

"Did you hear the news?" asked the summoner kunoichi.

"Yes, I did." answered the landlady.

"So you know about the race?" inquired Lucy.

Lucy's landlady nodded.

"I guess you know I won then..." said the teenage girl.

"Yes, I know." answered the woman.

"Are you going to congratulate me?" asked Lucy.

"Congratulations, Lucy." said Lucy's landlady.

"Thank you. I'll be putting this in my room, if you don't mind." answered the jinchuriki.

"Go on ahead." agreed the woman.

**"Your landlady is fat." **said Kurama.

Lucy let out a sigh as she went into her room. He simply did not have any respect for anyone.

She returned to her guild a few minutes later.

Unsurprisingly, Naruto was also very excited.

"Can you believe it, Erza? We scored second place!" exclaimed the chunin.

"I know. We did." nodded the S-Class mage.

"I feel awesome!" exclaimed Naruto.

"We didn't get first palce though." said Erza.

"It's true...we didn't...but second place is still pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?" questioned the chunin.

"Well, that's true." agreed the knight.

Sakura and Gajeel were rather happy about receiving third place as well...though they were a bit surprised that they had both tied.

"What were the chances of that?" inquired the kunoichi.

Gajeel shrugged.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have our pictures taken together whether we like it or not." answered Sakura.

"Yeah...whether we like it or not." acknowledged the iron dragonslayer.

Personally, he was leaning on the former.

"You think that we're going to be on TV?" questioned Sakura.

"Most likely." answered Gajeel.

"Won't that be nice." said the super strong girl.

"It sure will! It's about time I received the spotlight I deserve!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

"Er, yeah..." agreed Sakura.

"This is my big break!" exclaimed Gajeel.

"Yeah...mine too." nodded the kunoichi.

"Are you looking forward to it?" asked the iron dragonslayer.

"Yeah...I am." said Sakura.

"Alright!" cheered Gajeel.

"I guess it's our fifteen minutes of fame." noted the kunoichi.

"Fifteen minutes? Awww!" complained the former member of Phantom Lord.

Outside the guild hall, Juvia and Gray were feeling pretty good as well.

"Isn't this great, Gray? We're going to be on TV!" exclaimed the water mage.

"Yeah...isn't that nice." noted the ice mage.

"I'm looking forward to it!" bellowed Juvia.

"I bet you are." nodded Gray.

"I feel like throwing a party!" bellowed the former member of Phantom Lord.

"Yeah...maybe we could throw a party after this." noted the devil slayer.

"That sure sounds like fun." acknowledged Juvia.

"Just try not to drink too much...wouldn't want one of your kidneys to get stolen." suggested Gray.

"Yeah...wouldn't want to lose one of my kidneys...I'd be more than happy to donate one to you though." said the water mage.

"Thanks...I don't need a kidney at the moment though." spoke the stripper.

Immediately, he began to take off his pants, causing Juvia to squeal.

"Whoa! Thanks for the warning!" exclaimed Gray, putting his pants back on.

The water mage shrugged.

Jet and Droy were both rather excited too. They were both going to get interviewed.

Granted, they weren't going to have their pictures taken together...but it was something to look forward nonetheless.

At that very moment, they were approached by Levy.

"Hey." said the bookworm.

"Hey, Levy!" exclaimed Droy.

Immediately, they both began to blush.

"Why do they always do that?" thought Levy.

She began to ponder why that kept happening.

"H-how are you doing?" asked Jet curiously.

"I'm doing fine...you?" inquired Levy.

"Never better!" bellowed Droy.

"Very good." answered the letter mage.

"Is-isn't this great?" asked the plant mage.

"I bet it is." nodded Levy.

In the cafeteria, Ino and Choji were both very happy. In fact, they were both eating like pigs.

"We did it! We're going to get our picture taken together!" exclaimed Ino.

"It feels so awesome..." agreed Choji.

"It sure does!" cheered the psychic kunoichi.

"Still, I was under the impression that you would do a bit better...you're lightning-quick nowadays..." noted the chubby teenager.

"Well, I wasn't always like this...back before I used the interdimensional portal, I wasn't faster than anyone else, really...except for maybe Shikamaru. We all know that he loves to sleep, not run." acknowledged Ino.

"True..." nodded Choji. Personally, he wasn't much of a runner himself. Being part of a clan that loved to eat had its disadvantages.

On the other hand, they were experts at sumo wrestling. He didn't want to have to wear a diaper though. That seemed rather embarrasing.

Besides, he was a ninja, not a sumo wrestler. Why should he suddenly change careers?

"Also, one of my opponents happened to be super-fast too...he was my interdimensional partner, I believe." spoke the kunoichi.

"Oh yeah..." recalled the Akimichi clan member.

"So, what should we say at the interview?" asked Ino.

"Maybe talk about our lives?" questioned Choji.

"That seems like a good idea." agreed the psychic kunoichi.

"Yeah..." nodded the plant ninja.

Immediately, they began to think about what they should tell the interviewers.

There were so many possiblities...

At the table next to Ino and Choji were Elfman and Mirajane.

"So, what should I wear for the interview?" asked the S-Class Mage.

"Probably something that will make you look pretty...personally I was thinking about wearing a tuxedo..." answered the S-Class candidate.

"Not a bad idea." agreed Mirajane.

"I just need to find one." noted Elfman.

"Where to look..." questioned the demon mage.

Curious, he decided to head to the Fairy Tail clothing store to see if there were some on sale.

Sure enough, there were tuxedos on sale.

"Yes!" exclaimed Elfman.

Immediately, he purchased one using a hefty amount of jewels.

He then went to the changing room to put it on.

"Alright! I'm going to rock this interview!" he exclaimed.

He went to go see Mirajane a few minutes later.

"Darn! You look good!" bellowed the S-Class Mage.

Elfman smiled triumphantly.

"I guess I should go get a dress..." noted Mirajane.

Meanwhile, Cana was drinking heavily.

She was finding being in an interview to be a bit...stressful.

"Right...I'll just do this to keep my mind off being on TV..." thought the card mage.

She was worried that she was going to do something stupid.

"Maybe I'm going to fart?" inquired Cana.

Then again, she had not been eating baked beans as of late...though she did have a burrito last week.

"Yeah...that wasn't such a smart idea." noted the former alcoholic.

Shrugging, she began to look for a way to make herself look good.

"I know! I'll wear my black bikini top!" bellowed Cana.

Immediately, she went to the girls' locker room and changed her clothes.

"There! Now I'll look amazing." thought the card mage.

"You can say that again." said Loke.

"Why weren't you at the race?" asked Cana.

"I needed to spend more time with my family..." spoke the Celestial Spirit.

"I see..." spoke the alcohol lover.

Promptly, she began to drink some Kool-Aid.

"Oh yeah..." murmured Cana.

At the shooting range, Alzack and Bisca were both very eager to participate in an interview.

"We did it! We're finally going to be on TV!" exclaimed Alzack.

"We sure are!" nodded Bisca.

Immediately, they began to kiss passionately.

"You are such a good kisser!" bellowed the cowboy.

"Ditto!" exclaimed the cowgirl.

Personally they wondered if they should get married someday.

They were going to have to get wedding rings first though. Which one of them was going to propse?

They couldn't decide who should propose to who. Then again, it probably wouldn't matter too much.

Personally they wondered what the wedding cake would be like. Would it make them chubby?

Then again, Droy and Choji were already chubby and neither of them were complaining about it, so maybe that wouldn't be so bad.

Still, Makarov might recommend them to a diet instructor. He always did notice whenever things weren't quite right in his guild...like the time where they were invaded by body snatchers.

"Thank goodness he found their nest..." noted Alzack.

"Imagine if we all had our identities stolen." agreed Bisca.

"Yeah...identity theft is one of the hardest things to fight." acknowledged the cowboy.

"I wouldn't want to have my identity stolen." noted the cowgirl.

Meanwhile, Happy was eating fish. He may have done poorly in the race, but at least he wouldn't have to dress like a woman. He would die of embarrasment if that happened.

Not having to endure the punishment was an accomplishment in its own, it seemed.

"Phew!" exclaimed the Exceed.

Of course, the same did not go for Natsu, now did it?

"Hmm..." thought Happy.

On the other hand, the idea of Natsu in a woman's dress actually amused him.

He was going to have to look on the back page of the Sorceror's Magazine once the interviews were over. Then again, he might actually die laughing. Natsu had named him Happy for a reason.

"Meh, I'll still have eight more lives." noted the Exceed. It was a good thing he always had spares, right? Then again he was going to run out eventually.

Wait...didn't he already spend one of his lives when he decided to play with a gun?

Personally he wondered what he had been thinking back then.

"Yeah...I kind of got reckless." acknowledged Happy.

Of course, the gun wasn't actually loaded, but it still wasn't a good idea. It could have bonked him on the head.

He really didn't want that.

Elsewhere, Hinata was searching for Natsu.

"Where is he?" thought the Hyuga kunoichi.

Curious, she used her Byakugan and her enhanced sense of smell to track him down.

Oddly enough, he happened to be in the guild master's office.

Immediately, she decided to head there to see what the meeting was about.

Since she also had enhanced hearing, she was able to hear them loud and clear.

"Please don't do this to Hinata! Just take me! This is all my fault!" bellowed Natsu.

"Hmm?" inquired Hinata.

"I was the one that broke my ankle! I got careless!" exclaimed the male dragonslayer.

"That explains the crutches..." noted Makarov.

"Don't make Hinata suffer like this! She doesn't deserve it!" bellowed Natsu.

"Awww...how sweet." thought Hinata.

However, she decided that she didn't want him to suffer like this.

Immediately, she entered the guild master's office.

"Hey there, Hinata...nice to see you." said Natsu.

"No no no no. You shouldn't be making Natsu be a transvestite. You should be making me be a transvestite." spoke Hinata.

"Hmm?" inquired Makarov.

"According to the Hyuga code of honour...I should put the lives of others above myself. I can't let Natsu go through this." answered the female dragonslayer.

"Isn't she brave..." thought Natsu.

"You're really close, aren't you?" asked the guild master.

"Yeah..." nodded Hinata.

"I guess we are." agreed Natsu.

"I know just what to do then!" exclaimed Makarov.

Immediately, he rang a bell on the desk.

Erza came by a few minutes later.

"You rang?" asked the knight.

"I want you to dress up these two in each other's clothing!" exclaimed Makarov.

"You got it." nodded the knight.

Immediately, Natsu found himself wearing Hinata's sweater while Hinata found herself wearing Natsu's vest.

"Huh. This actually looks good on me." noted the male dragonslayer.

"This outfit is exposing my bra." complained the female dragonslayer.

Blood began to drip from Natsu's nose.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of that." answered Erza.

Snapping her fingers, Hinata was now wearing a sarashi.

"Thank you." said the kunoichi.

"So, are you ready for your interview? The Sorceror's Magazine producers will be here in about an hour." answered Makarov.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Natsu.

"Alright then. Have fun, I guess." noted the guild master.

"We will." answered Hinata.

Immediately, the duo left the guild master's office.

"That was a rather interesting plan you had there..." noted Erza.

"I figured that they would enjoy dressing like that." acknowledged Makarov.

"I guess you were right." answered the Requip mage.

"Now if you excuse me I'm going to drink my coffee." said the guild master.

Immediately, he began to drink a cup of joe.

"Maybe I should drink some coffee too..." acknowledged Erza. That actually sounded kind of good right now.

She went to find the nearest coffee maker.

"This was quite the endurance race...and I enjoyed every bit of it." said Makarov.

Immediately, he resumed drinking his coffee.

_Well, the 24-Hour Endurance Race is over. We have our winners...and we have our losers. Sorry, not everyone can win._

_In the next chapter, there's going to be loads of interviews. Hooray._


	36. Chapter 36: Interview Time

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Naruto, Lucy, and their friends are all going to get interviewed. Isn't that nice?_

_And yes...we're doing this in the order that they placed._

**Chapter 36: Interview Time**

Lucy and Shikamaru smiled as they sat in the interview's chair. Makarov said that it was time...and since they got first place, they got to go first.

"It's nice to get to be on TV..." noted Lucy.

"I guess so..." answered Shikamaru.

Immediately, they sat down in their interview chairs.

Sure enough, there were two mages ready to interview them.

"I feel rather excited..." said Lucy.

Shikamaru began to yawn.

"Greetings! My name is Cosmo!" exclaimed one of the mages.

"And my name is Wanda!" bellowed another mage.

Lucy and Shikamaru raised eyebrows.

"So, how does it feel to score first place?" inquired Cosmo.

"Pretty good!" bellowed Lucy.

"I was a bit surprised that I won to be honest...I slept during most of the race..." noted Shikamaru.

"Did you now?" asked Cosmo.

"It's true, I did...I don't know how I managed to pull it off..." questioned the shadow ninja.

Cosmo and Wanda shrugged.

"Well, I guess you must be a lucky man." noted Wanda.

"Yes, I am." answered Shikamaru.

"Now we both have shiny gold trophies!" exclaimed Lucy.

"I'm sure that people are going to want your autographs..." acknowledged Cosmo.

"What a drag! How am I going to fall asleep when I have about a million fangirls?" inquired Shikamaru.

"I don't know..." answered Lucy.

Personally, she wondered if she should help Shikamaru shoo them off. He'd been a real help to her as of late.

Not only that, but she had already kissed him on the lips twice.

Immediately, her cheeks turned red.

"So...what do you have planned for your future?" asked Cosmo.

"Maybe visit my father, I suppose. See if he's really turned over a new leaf..." answered Lucy.

**"Nooooooooooooooooo!" **screamed Kurama.

"Then again, maybe not." noted Lucy, hearing the scream of her nine-tailed fox.

Kurama's pulse settled.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Wanda.

"My nine-tailed fox. He's living inside my stomach." answered Lucy.

"OK..." answered the female interviewer.

"I wonder what having a nine-tailed fox inside me would be like..." noted Shikamaru.

"If you had Shukaku living inside you, you'd never be able to go to sleep." acknowledged Lucy.

Shikamaru shuddered at the thought.

"How do you feel about Fairy Tail?" asked Cosmo.

"I feel like it's my home." answered Lucy.

"I want to keep learning more about it." said Shikamaru.

"Interesting..." spoke Wanda.

"Are you two a couple?" inquired Cosmo.

Lucy and Shikamaru began to blush.

They both shook their heads.

"Oh...well, you two seem to be rather close..." noted Wanda.

"It's true, we are." answered Lucy.

"Then again, I am the interdimensional partner of her best friend." acknowledged Shikamaru.

"Interdimensional partner?" asked Cosmo.

"Yeah...it's the reason I have a nine-tailed fox living inside me." spoke Lucy.

**"I'm happy about the transfer to be honest. Being inside Naruto's body was such a pain. This is much more preferable." **noted Kurama.

"I'm actually starting to like having you in my body...it's like having a friend that never goes away." acknowledged the teenage girl.

**"But I'm not your friend." **answered Kurama.

"But your cheeks are turning red..." spoke Lucy.

**"How'd you know?" **asked the nine-tailed fox.

"I can see you if I concentrate hard enough." answered the kunoichi.

Kurama rolled his eyes.

"How long have you two known each other?" asked Cosmo.

"Since the day I took a fateful trip through an interdimensional portal..." explained Lucy.

"An interdimensional portal?" inquired Wanda.

"I know...it's kind of confusing." answered Shikamaru.

"Well, that's all the time we have for this interview. It's time for you two to have your picture taken." said Cosmo.

Immediately, Lucy and Shikamaru sat in the chair.

The first picture had Lucy smiling for the camera...while Shikamaru took a snooze.

The second picture had Lucy beginning to yawn, with Shikamaru still sleeping.

The last picture had Lucy sleeping...on top of Shikamaru.

Suffice to say, they were rather embarrased about the incident.

But at least it was somewhat pleasurable.

Of course, Naruto and Erza were up next.

"It's nice to get to do an interview for you..." noted the chunin.

"It sure is." agreed Erza.

Sure enough, Cosmo and Wanda were happy to interview them.

They were particularly happy to see Erza.

"Good to see you again!" exclaimed Cosmo, shaking Erza's hand.

"It sure is." nodded Erza.

"Is this your boyfriend?" inquired Wanda.

Erza and Naruto began to blush.

Immediately, Naruto tried to explain.

"Er, no...we're the best of friends, but-"

"Alright then." said Cosmo.

"Funny, I was under the impression that you would score first place, Erza...I heard that you were one of the strongest mages Fairy Tail has..." noted Wanda.

"Well, this armor does kind of weigh me down..." spoke Erza.

"Do you want me to take it off?" inquired Naruto.

"No no no. I'm fine." answered the knight.

Immediately, she Requiped into a red dress.

"That's better." spoke Erza.

"Wow..." murmured Naruto.

"Yes, I chose to wear a strapless dress. Why do you ask?" inquired the knight.

"No reason...heh heh." answered Naruto.

Curious, she noticed that Naruto's cheeks had turned red.

"Hmm..." thought Erza.

"So, how's life as an S-Class Mage?" asked Cosmo.

"Pretty good. Pretty good. I actually went on a mission yesterday..." explained the knight.

"How did that turn out for you?" inquired Wanda.

"Well..." answered Erza.

_Erza slashed and stabbed the demon, causing it to explode into ichor._

_"Well, hopefully it will stop possessing people's bodies and spinning their heads around like a record." noted the knight._

_Immediately, she began to wipe up the blood with a mop._

_"There! Now it looks like the demon was never there!" exclaimed Erza._

_She had mopped the floor with the demon...and then had wiped his blood off the floor too._

_"How about that?" thought the knight._

"So...the mission was a success?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes...I was a bit surprised that it was an S-Class Mission to be honest. The demon really wasn't all that tough." noted Erza.

"I guess you're just that strong." acknowledged the chunin.

"I guess so." answered Naruto.

"Funny, I heard about you...apparently, you're a fairly recent recruit to Fairy Tail." spoke Cosmo.

"Yeah...that's because I'm not from Fiore." spoke the chunin.

"You're not?" inquired Wanda.

"I'm actually from Konoha..." answered Naruto.

"Konoha? Never heard of it..." spoke Cosmo.

"That's because it's all the way in another world..." explained the former jinchuriki.

"My head hurts..." complained Wanda.

Oddly enough, she had heard Lucy mention something similar not too long ago.

Who would have thought that there was more than one world in the universe?

"It's actually nice to be a member of Fairy Tail, to be honest...I don't have a nine-tailed fox living inside my body anymore." noted Naruto.

"Didn't Lucy say that she had a nine-tailed fox body inside her?" asked Cosmo.

"That's because I ended up transfering him to Lucy by accident." explained the chunin.

"I see..." comprehended Wanda.

"Don't worry, she doesn't mind. I inherited her summoner keys, so it was a pretty decent tradeoff." noted Naruto.

"I suppose it was." agreed Erza.

"Not only that, she can use my Rasengan!" exclaimed the chunin.

"Rasengan?" inquired Cosmo.

"It's basically a great big sphere of energy..." explained Naruto.

"I see..." answered Wanda.

"It's rather impressive, now that I think of it..." noted Erza.

"Yeah...it took my dad three years to master it..." pointed out the chunin.

"How long did it take you to master it?" inquired the knight.

"About a month..." answered Naruto.

Cosmo and Wanda began to whistle.

"Nowadays I'm working on using a Twin Rasengan technique...that way the jutsu will be twice as strong..." spoke the chunin.

"How's that coming along?" asked Erza.

"Pretty well. I just need a bit more time to train, that's all." answered Naruto.

"Good luck with that then." spoke Cosmo.

"Yeah...luck is all I need...and skill." noted the chunin.

Curious, he decided to see if he could make a Twin Rasengan right then and there.

For a moment, it appeared that he had succeeded...but he quickly noticed that one Rasengan was much smaller than the other.

"Well, this is still an improvement over just one...but I think I can do better." noted Naruto.

"Probably." nodded Erza.

Personally he wondered if he and Lucy should try tutoring each other. They were interdimensional partners after all.

"Well, it's time for you to have your pictures taken. Don't be camera shy!" exclaimed Wanda.

"We won't. We won't." answered Naruto.

Immediately, the duo began to have their pictures taken.

The first picture had Erza smiling for the camera while Naruto ate some delicious ramen.

The second picture had Naruto and Erza sharing the ramen together.

The last picture had Naruto and Erza accidentally kissing each other on the lips, much to their embarrasment.

"Deja vu..." thought Lucy.

Next to have their interview was Sakura and Gajeel.

Unfortunately, Sakura was in her underpants.

"Agh! Put some clothes on!" demanded Cosmo.

"D'oh! Well, good thing I was wearing my sarashi..." murmured Sakura.

Curious, she noticed that Gajeel's nose was bleeding heavily.

Immediately, she began to use a healing jutsu to heal Gajeel's snozz.

"Thank you." answered the iron dragonslayer.

In return, he handed her some clothes.

"Thank you...but why does this outfit make me look goth?" inquired Sakura.

"It was the only clothes I had that would fit you..." answered Gajeel.

"Oh...do you think it looks good on me?" asked the kunoichi.

Gajeel nodded.

Sakura began to smile.

Immediately, they sat down in the interview chairs.

"It is safe for us to open our eyes?" asked Cosmo.

"Yes." answered Sakura.

Cosmo and Wanda opened their eyes.

"Phew! That's a relief! You've got to stop taking your clothes off in public!" exclaimed Wanda.

"I know...I inherited that from my interdimensional partner, Gray Fullbuster." explained Sakura.

"She's been giving me nosebleeds ever since." noted Gajeel.

"Yeah..." answered the kunoichi sheepishly.

"Well, try not to do that in public..." suggested Cosmo.

"Right, of course." nodded Sakura.

"Anyways, congratulations on crossing the finish line together!" exclaimed Cosmo.

"Yeah...I actually wasn't paying attention when that happened...I was trying to catch Naruto and Lucy during most of the race..." explained the kunoichi.

"I actually helped her." noted Gajeel.

"I appreciate it." spoke Sakura.

Gajeel began to smirk in satisfaction.

"Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?" inquired Cosmo.

Gajeel and Sakura began to blush.

"Why do we keep asking that?" asked Wanda.

"Well, we do happen to be a couple..." noted Cosmo.

"That's true..." acknowledged the female interviewer.

"We're not a couple...we've only known each other for about fifteen chapters..." explained Gajeel.

"Did you just break the fourth wall?" asked Sakura.

"Is that a big deal?" inquired the iron dragonslayer.

"Meh...probably not." answered the kunoichi.

"I did save her from being a genki girl though..." noted Gajeel.

"Huh?" asked Cosmo.

"It's a long story..." explained Sakura.

"One that involves gypsies..." continued the iron dragonslayer.

"I heard that they were vengeful..." noted Wanda.

"They sure are." nodded Sakura.

Personally, she wondered if Happy should ever visit a fortuneteller again. From what she knew about him...he was a klutz.

"So, Gray is your interdimensional partner?" asked Wanda.

"Yes, he is...I can use his ice magic." answered Sakura.

"Interesting..." noted Cosmo.

"Interdimensional portals make my head spin..." complained Wanda.

"Should I try using one?" questioned Gajeel.

"Maybe." shrugged Sakura.

"I bet I'd get something nice out of it..." noted the iron dragonslayer.

"But you might become a stripper." warned Tsunade's apparentice.

Gajeel sweatdropped.

"That's...true." acknowledged the former Phantom Lord mage.

"Yeah...wouldn't want you to die of embarrassment." noted Sakura.

"Yeah..." agreed Gajeel.

Suddenly, Sakura began to take off her shirt.

"Not again!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

Frantically, she put her shirt back down.

"Ugh..." murmured the kunoichi.

Cosmo and Wanda began to sigh.

"What an awkward interview this is turning out to be..." spoke Cosmo.

"I know..." agreed Wanda.

"Sorry...I can't help it." apologized Sakura.

"At this rate you're going to make me start running around in my underpants..." muttered Gajeel.

Sakura began to blush.

"That's...not something that I look forward to." noted Wanda.

"What? Do you think I'm ugly? I actually got my looks from my mother..." asked Gajeel.

Cosmo began to sweatdrop.

"I think you look kind of cute..." murmured Sakura.

"What?" asked the iron dragonslayer.

Sakura began to blush again.

"So...I heard that you used to be part of Phantom Lord. Why did you decide to leave?" inquired Wanda.

"Master Jose ate the Exceed I befriended..." explained Gajeel.

"I see..." answered Cosmo.

"It was a shame. I thought we had something between us." noted the iron dragonslayer.

Sakura placed her hand on Gajeel's shoulder.

This time, it was his turn to blush.

"Well, that's enough for this interview. It's time for you two to have your pictures taken." spoke Wanda.

"Alright!" exclaimed Gajeel.

Immediately, Sakura and Gajeel went up to the camera.

The first picture had Gajeel trying to hog the spotlight from Sakura.

The second picture had Sakura trying to push Gajeel out of the way so that she could be in the picture.

The last picture had Sakura falling on top of Gajeel, much to the embarrassment of them both.

Next up was Juvia and Gray.

Unsurprisingly, Juvia was very happy that she got to do an interview with Gray.

"This is the best day of my life!" exclaimed the water mage.

"But we only scored fourth place..." pointed out Gray.

"Who cares?!" bellowed Juvia.

"Um..." murmured the ice mage.

Immediately, Gray began to take his shirt off, causing Juvia to squeal.

"Not again!" bellowed Cosmo.

"I can't believe we have another stripper here..." complained Wanda.

"Huh? Oh, that's right...Sakura went right before us." noted Gray.

"It's true, she did..." acknowledged Juvia.

"She mentioned something about your interdimensional partner..." questioned Cosmo.

"Yeah...I've inherited her super strength and her short temper...I actually beat up someone on the way here." explained the ice mage.

"You did?!" exclaimed Wanda.

"He was groping Juvia..." spoke Gray.

"It was...scary." noted Juvia.

"I think we better stay on your good side." suggested Cosmo.

Wanda nodded in agreement.

"Relax...I'm a nice guy...most of the time." answered Gray.

"He sure is!" exclaimed Juvia.

Cosmo and Wanda sighed in relief.

"Right...so, I heard that your hometown was destroyed by a demon..." said Cosmo.

"I'm afraid so." nodded Gray.

Juvia placed her hand on Gray's shoulder.

"Thanks..." answered the ice mage.

"I know how you feel...I lost my teammates to a madman..." murmured Juvia.

Immediately, she began to cry.

Gray put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to smile.

"So...are you two boyfriend and girlfriend? I've already had three interviewers say that wasn't true, but-"

Cosmo didn't have to finish that sentence.

"We actually are." answered the ice mage.

"How about that..." said Wanda.

'I know...we are so in love..." noted Juvia.

"She stalked me at first...but once she agreed to stop doing so, I couldn't help but fall in love with her." nodded Gray.

"That's sweet..." spoke Wanda.

Now that she thought of it, Cosmo initially behaved the same way.

"Personally I'm glad that we finished in the same position..." spoke Gray.

"Fourth place wasn't too bad...wasn't it?" inquired Juvia.

"No, it really wasn't." nodded the ice mage.

"So...how long have you two known each other?" asked Wanda curiously.

"Since she went on a mission to send Lucy to Phantom Lord..." spoke Gray.

"She used to be part of Phantom Lord too?" inquired Cosmo.

"Well, she quit after her teammates were slain by Kenichi...god, I hate that man..." murmured the ice mage.

"Who's Kenichi?" asked Wanda.

"A man that you never want to meet in your lifetime." answered Gray. Personally he felt rather unfortunate that he had a chance encounter with Kenichi himself, even if he was fortunate enough to survive.

Cosmo frowned. He wasn't sure who Kenichi was...but he didn't sound like a good person.

"Is he going to pay Fiore a visit?" asked the male interviewer.

"That's rather unlikely. He happens to be from the world of ninja...much like some of my friends." explained Gray.

Cosmo and Wanda let out a sigh of relief.

"You might not be better off here at the world of magic though...I heard that there's an evil sorceress by the name of Chiyoye Headstone on the loose..." noted Juvia.

"She killed no less than a dozen of our recruits...gruesomely." acknowledged Gray.

Cosmo and Wanda both sighed. Was there anywhere that was safe?

"Chiyoye Headstone?" asked Cosmo.

"If Kenichi is the most evil ninja in history, then Chiyoye's the most evil mage in our history books." noted the ice mage.

Once again, the duo sighed. Kenichi and Chiyoye sounded utterly repulsive.

"You're going to protect us from them...right?" asked Wanda.

"Well, we can try. Juvia and I both have a personal grudge against Kenichi. He's killed so many people...and quite frankly, so has Chiyoye." noted Gray.

"I want to make him pay." agreed Juvia.

"Well, after you've dealt with Kenichi, you might want to go after Chiyoye next..." acknowledged Cosmo.

"Well, I don't think we can take them on alone...Kenichi and Chiyoye are both very strong." pointed out Gray.

"Yeah...we were lucky to survive a battle against one of Kenichi's clones." acknowledged Juvia.

"Kenichi can create copies of himself?" asked Cosmo.

"He usually does most of his dirty work without summoning clones...but yes, he can." answered the ice mage.

Cosmo and Wanda looked worried. Was there anywhere in the world of ninja that was safe?

"Well, thanks for warning us about those two...let's have your picture taken now, shall we?" beckoned Cosmo.

Immediately, Gray and Juvia prepared to have their picture taken.

The first picture had Gray and Juvia smiling for the camera.

The second picture had Juvia kissing Gray on the lips. Apparently, he was surprised, because his eyes were wide open.

The last picture had Juvia kissing Gray on the lips as well. This time, Gray's eyes were closed, suggesting that he was happy to kiss Juvia.

Next up was Jet.

"Hey there...we were expecting you to score first place. Then again, I suppose fifth place wasn't too shabby either." noted Wanda.

"Well, I had serious competition this time..." spoke Jet.

"You did?" asked Cosmo.

"I ended up sharing my speed powers with someone else." explained the fastest mage in Fairy Tail.

"You did?" inquired Wanda.

"It was an accident..." explained the speed mage.

"I see..." comprehended Cosmo.

"So...who did you share your powers with?" inquired Wanda.

"A girl by the name of Ino..." spoke Jet.

"Interesting..." thought the female interviewer.

"So, how are things between you and your teammates...Team Shadow Gear?" asked Cosmo.

"As good as ever." answered Jet.

"That's nice." noted Wanda.

"It's always a joy working with them." said the speed mage.

"I bet it is." agreed Cosmo.

"It always feels strange teaming up with someone else." murmured Jet.

"I suppose." acknowledged Wanda.

"I wonder what it would have been like if our guildmaster decided to pair me up with someone else." questioned the speed mage.

"That would be an interesting experience...wouldn't it?" inquired Cosmo.

Jet nodded.

"I wonder what it would be like if I had to interview someone with another person..." spoke Wanda.

"Well, we've both had to call in sick at times." acknowledged Cosmo.

"True..." nodded the female interviewer.

"I've had that happen to me too..." spoke Jet.

Whenever that happened, they always did have to take a temporary replacement. He had found himself working with someone other than Levy and Droy in the past.

It was always a rather interesting experience.

He in particular remembered the time where they went with Cana instead of Levy...because she had a doctor's appointment.

_"Glug glug glug..." murmured Cana._

_"Why are you always drinking?" asked Jet._

_"Because it's so pleasurable...why is your buddy Droy always eating?" inquired the alcohol lover._

_Curious, he noticed that Droy was eating some chicken wings._

_"Nom nom nom!" bellowed the chubby mage._

_"Can I have some?" inquired Cana._

_"Sure!" exclaimed Droy._

_Immediately, Droy handed Cana some chicken wings._

_"Thanks...these will go great with my booze..." noted the card mage._

_"I suppose it will." answered Droy._

_Something told Jet that Droy and Cana were going to enjoy working together._

"Now that I think of it...maybe they should hang out sometime." noted Droy.

"Maybe..." acknowledged Cosmo.

"Well, it's time for you to have your picture taken now." said Wanda.

"Alright!" exclaimed the speed mage.

Apparently, he had been waiting for this.

Immediately, he smiled for the camera.

The first picture had him picking his nose.

The second picture had him realizing what he was doing, with his cheeks turning pink.

The third picture had him using a tissue instead.

"Thank you for your time." said Wanda.

The next racers to have their interview were Choji and Ino.

"I'm so glad that I get to be on TV..." said Ino.

"Me too." agreed Choji.

"Best of all, I get to be on TV with you!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"I know..." nodded the Akimichi clan member.

"Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend too?" inquired Wanda.

"We sure are!" exclaimed Ino.

"Funny how we keep getting ties..." noted Cosmo.

"Yes, I know..." agreed Wanda.

"So...are you two both from the world of ninja? You both seemed to be dressed differently than the mages of Fairy Tail." asked the male interviewer.

"Yes, we are. We came here for the twenty-four endurance race." explained Choji.

"I'm glad that we scored sixth place!" exclaimed Ino.

"Me too." nodded the Akimichi clan member.

"Right...so, I heard that you inherited Jet's speed magic...I bet it helped you during the race, didn't it?" inquired Wanda.

"It sure did." confirmed the psychic kunoichi.

"I wish I could run like that..." said Cosmo.

"Well, Jet did inherit my psychic abilities in return." noted Ino.

"He sure did." answered Choji.

"Did you inherit anything from someone else?" inquired Wanda.

"Yes...I inherited Droy's plant magic..." explained the Akimichi ninja.

"Very interesting." thought the female interviewer.

"I think I'll use it to grow a garden for Ino." spoke Choji.

"How sweet!" squealed Ino.

"I figured you would enjoy it..." said the body expanding teenager.

"I sure would!" nodded the Yamanaka kunoichi.

"You two sure are close..." acknowledged Wanda.

"Just like us!" exclaimed Cosmo.

"Yeah...just like us." agreed the female interviewer.

Immediately, her cheeks began to turn red.

"So...how long have you two known each other?" inquired Cosmo.

"Since we were genin..." answered Choji.

"Since you were genin?" asked Wanda.

"Well, we weren't always chunin...we had to take exams first." explained Ino.

"Unfortunately, we both failed the first time around..." noted the chubby ninja.

"It didn't really matter though. Orochimaru came and ruined everything." noted the kunoichi.

"Orochimaru?" asked Cosmo.

"He's this evil scientist that likes experimenting on ninja...he also has an unhealty obsesssion with snakes." explained Choji.

"An evil scientist that likes to experiment on ninja...you mean like Dr. Frankenstein?" inquired Wanda.

"Yes...like Dr. Frankenstein." explained Ino.

"If only he wasn't so obsessed with learning every jutsu there is..." noted Choji.

"If only..." agreed the psychic kunoichi.

"So...what's this about Orochimaru coming along and ruining everything?" asked Wanda.

"Well, Orochimaru successfully assassinated the Third Hokage." explained Ino.

"The Third Hokage?" inquired Cosmo.

"Yes...he was our leader." continued the psychic kunoichi.

"It was really sad...he was the father of our sensei too..." noted Choji.

"He managed to cripple Orochimaru though...so at least that was something." said Ino optimistically.

"He managed to cripple him?" questioned Cosmo.

"Yeah...he couldn't use his arms after the Third Hokage had his way with him." explained the chubby ninja.

"That's really impressive..." noted Wanda.

"Yeah...it didn't do us all that much good...he eventually found another host body to make him better again." stated Ino.

"That's too bad." answered Cosmo.

"On the plus side, this meant that he couldn't use Sasuke Uchiha as a host body until three years had passed..." spoke Choji.

"It's a shame that Sasuke Uchiha had to defect from us...I thought he was a hunk." said Ino.

"Well, that was before we became a couple..." noted the chubby ninja.

Ino began to giggle.

"Sasuke Uchiha defected from you?" asked Cosmo.

"Yeah...he wanted to kill his brother for what he did to his clan...and he felt that Konoha wasn't making him strong enough..." explained Ino.

"That's sad." answered Wanda.

"Now that I think of it...I heard that he and his clan suffered from a curse of hatred that caused them to do terrible things..." acknowledged the psychic kunoichi.

"Do they know?" asked Choji.

"The only way to get rid of it is for someone to successfully reach out to them..." explained Ino.

"I hope that happens someday." said Wanda.

"Me too..." murmured the psychic kunoichi. Granted, she already had Choji...but it would be nice if Sasuke Uchiha could come back to Konoha one day.

Maybe if they were lucky Tsunade would pardon him...but he had a lot to answer for.

"Right...it's time for you two to have your pictures taken." said Wanda.

Ino and Choji were both very excited.

The first picture had Ino smiling for the camera. Unfortunately, Choji let out a burp. He had drank some soda before the interview.

The second picture had Ino letting out a burp while Choji sweatdropped. She had shared that particular soda with Choji before the interview.

The last picture had them both blushing. The experience was a bit embarrassing for them. Maybe they should have drank some soda after the interview.

"Have a nice day." said Wanda.

Elfman and Mirajane entered the room a few minutes later.

"Good to see you again, Mirajane! It's always nice to have you pose for the Sorceror's Magazine..." said Cosmo.

Wanda sweatdropped.

"Good to see you again too." nodded Mirajane.

"You two are brother and sister, am I right?" asked Cosmo.

"Yes, we are." confirmed Elfman.

"I guess it's a coincidence that you both scored seventh place then..." noted Wanda.

"We decided to work together to win the race, actually." explained Mirajane.

"How sweet..." answered Cosmo.

"I think we did fairly well...though I think we could have done better too." acknowledged Elfman.

"Maybe next year we'll both get first place?" inquired Mirajane.

"Maybe we will." answered the S-Class candidate.

Personally they were looking forward to getting a gold trophy...but they couldn't have everything.

"Right then. Were you looking forward to the race?" asked Wanda.

"Yeah, we were. We found it to be a very enjoyable experience." said Mirajane.

"I would love to race again!" exclaimed Elfman.

"Alright then..." spoke the female interviewer.

"Were you looking forward to this interview?" asked Cosmo.

"We sure were." nodded Mirajane.

"I get to have my picture taken with Mirajane, so yes!" exclaimed Elfman.

"That does sound like fun..." acknowledged the male interviewer.

"Then again I have had my picture taken for the Sorceror's Magazine at least half a dozen times before..." noted Mirajane.

"We know..." nodded Wanda.

"I have to admit...I have a lot of outfits." acknowledged the S-Class Mage.

"You sure do." grinned Elfman.

"For the interview I decided to wear this pink dress..." explained Mirajane.

Sure enough, she was wearing a pink dress.

"I think it looks nice on you!" exclaimed the S-Class Mage.

"You flatter me." answered Mirajane.

Likewise, Elfman was dressed in a tuxedo.

"I think that outfit looks nice on you." said the demon mage.

"Returning the favor, are we?" asked Elfman.

Mirajane nodded.

"Right...I heard that your sister is dead. I'm so sorry to hear that..." sympathized Wanda.

"We've accepted the loss at this point..." explained the S-Class Mage.

"It's a shame...Natsu wanted to marry her." noted Elfman.

"He did? I didn't know that..." said Cosmo.

"Well, he did...I guess he's just going to have to find someone else." acknowledged Mirajane.

"Maybe Hinata?" asked Elfman.

"Yes...maybe Hinata." nodded the S-Class Mage.

"Who's Hinata?" inquired Cosmo.

"She's one of the two racers that scored last place...the other being Natsu himself." explained Mirajane.

"I see..." comprehended Wanda.

"I believe that you're going to be interviewing her and Natsu not too long from now." continued Elfman.

"Oh, that's right...we're interviewing each and every one of the racers..." noted Cosmo.

"That includes the racers that scored last place...expect them to be transvestites." explained Mirajane.

"Ah...the traditional punishment for the losers..." spoke Wanda.

Personally she wondered if she was going to have to stifle the urge to laugh.

"I was worried that we were going to have to be transvestites if we lost to be honest..." said Elfman.

"That was a genuine concern." agreed Mirajane.

"I wouldn't want to have to dress up as a woman..." noted Cosmo.

"What about the time you played around with my clothing? You wore one of my bras on your head..." asked Wanda.

"Well, that was the exception..." explained the male interviewer.

Wanda began to giggle.

"Have you ever messed around with Mirajane's clothing?" asked Cosmo.

"Only one or twice." answered Elfman.

Immediately, he began to blush.

"Why were you wearing my panties?" asked Mirajane.

"I don't know..." shrugged Elfman.

"Did you think they looked good on you?" inquired the S-Class Mage.

"Maybe..." answered the S-Class candidate.

Both Cosmo and Wanda began to blush.

"This interview is turning out to be rather...interesting." said Wanda.

"I know..." nodded Cosmo.

Mirajane and Elfman both shook their heads up and down.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time before we interviewed an S-Class Mage..." acknowledged Cosmo.

"I'll say!" exclaimed Wanda.

"Yeah...it was only a matter of time before I sat in a chair like this..." nodded Mirajane.

"This chair is so comfortable..." murmured Elfman.

"I'm with you there." concurred the S-Class Mage.

"Well, that's all the time we have for your interview. It was nice to have you with us, Mirajane." said Cosmo.

"Thank you." answered Mirajane.

Immediately, she and Elfman went to have their picture taken.

The first picture had Elfman wrap his arm around the right side of Mirajane's neck, causing her to smile. Likewise, Elfman was smiling as well.

The second picture had Elfman flexing his muscles while Mirajane put some lipstick on her lips.

The last picture had the bench Elfman and Mirajane were sitting in suddenly collapsing underneath the former's weight, causing lipstick to be splattered across the latter's face.

"Don't worry...we can fix that." said Wanda.

Sure enough, Cosmo began to cast a spell to repair the bench, causing it to look as good as new.

Mirajane and Elfman let out a sigh of relief. They didn't want to have to pay for the damages.

Next up were Alzack and Bisca.

"Well, if it isn't for Fairy Tail's lovebirds!" exclaimed Wanda.

"Yes, that's us." nodded Alzack.

"It's a pleasure to get the opportunity to meet you." spoke Cosmo.

Alzack and Bisca smiled.

"It was a rather exciting race..." acknowledged Bisca.

"It sure was." concurred Wanda.

"I'll say! I bet people are going to talk about it for ages..." noted Cosmo.

"They sure are." nodded Alzack.

"I'm so glad that we're going to have our picture taken together!" exclaimed Bisca.

"Yeah...everyone whose tied for the same position in the race seems happy about who they ended up with..." acknowledged Wanda.

"I'd be pretty happy to take a picture with you, so..." answered Cosmo.

"Yeah...me too." agreed the female interviewer.

"So, Bisca...how long have you been wearing that hat?" inquired Wanda.

"Since I was young." explained Bisca.

"When you were young?" asked Cosmo.

"Since I was four." continued the cowgirl.

"Wow..." gasped Wanda.

"I know...I'm really attached to this hat..." spoke Bisca.

"Got your hat!" exclaimed Alzack, removing the hat from her head.

"Hey!" bellowed the gunner.

"If you want it back, kiss me on the lips!" demanded the cowboy.

"With pleasure!" squealed Bisca.

Immediately, they began to make out.

"Aren't you in love..." noted Cosmo.

"So are we!" exclaimed Wanda.

"Oh yeah..." recalled the male interviewer.

Alzack returned the hat to Bisca.

"Thank you..." cheered the cowgirl as she put the hat back on her head.

"You're welcome." answered the cowboy.

Once again, they began to make out.

"Are you going to spend the entire interview doing that? Just saying..." inquired Wanda.

"Sorry, sorry!" apologized Bisca.

"We're a bit excited today..." noted Alzack.

"I bet you are." understood Cosmo.

Immediately, Alzack and Bisca began to take deep breaths.

"That's right...try to calm yourselves down." spoke Wanda.

"So, how long have you two been dating?" inquired Cosmo.

"For about five years." answered Alzack.

Cosmo and Wanda whistled. Not even they had been dating that long.

They had been dating...for about three months. Personally, they wondered why the duo weren't married yet.

That certainly would be a rather exciting wedding. Just how many of their friends were going to attend?

Probably everybody in Fairy Tail.

"Do you two...think that you should get married?" inquired Cosmo.

"Weddings are expensive..." noted Bisca.

"Well, that's true..." spoke Wanda.

"We're not sure if we could afford a wedding ring..." -questioned Alzack.

"They sure are inflating these days..." noted Cosmo.

"Maybe if we do a few more missions..." shrugged Bisca.

"Or if we catch a few outlaws..." spoke Alzack. He just loved doing bounty hunts with his girlfriend.

"Yeah...maybe that will work." suggested Wanda.

"Know any good bounties?" asked the cowboy.

"Well, I heard that there's a man that won't stop streaking in public..." answered Cosmo.

Wanda began to blush.

"Really?" inquired Bisca.

"You might want to dress him before sending him to the authorities.." noted the male interviewer.

"Yeah..." nodded Alzack. Wouldn't want anyone to go blind now.

"So...what's it like out in the West? You happen to be immigrants, are you not?" asked Cosmo.

"Yes, we are...just for the record, we didn't cross the border illegally. We signed a legal document." explained Bisca.

"That's a relief..." answered Wanda.

"Believe us...Fairy Tail would probably throw us out if we were." noted Alzack.

"That's true..." acknowledged Cosmo.

"To be honest, we were a bit glad to leave. We kept having duststorms..." explained Bisca.

"That doesn't sound like fun." sympathized Wanda.

"They never were." nodded Alzack.

"Other than that, it was rather pleasurable though. We decided that we needed to get out a bit more, however...so we decided to head to Fiore to do some sight-seeing. Fairy Tail noticed that we were skilled magicians...and well, you probably know where I'm going with this." clarified Bisca.

"Yeah...well, that's all the time we have for this interview. Let's have your pictures taken for the magazine." said Cosmo.

Immediately, the duo sat down on the bench.

The first picture had them making out.

The second picture...also had them making out.

The third picture...you guessed it, had them making out.

"That was a bit boring..." noted Cosmo.

"I know..." concurred Wanda.

The next person to have their interview was Cana...who was currently drinking some liquor.

"That's the stuff." said the card mage.

"You sure you should drink before an interview?" inquired Cosmo.

"Relax...I never get drunk. Except for maybe once or twice..." answered Cana.

"I'm having a hard time believing that you're a girl..." questioned Wanda.

"Well, my parents were expecting a boy..." noted the alcohol lover.

"That explains a lot." murmured Cosmo.

"Er, yeah..." agreed Wanda.

Once again, Cana began to drink some booze.

She let out a burp.

"So...how long have you been drinking alcohol?" inquired Cosmo.

"Since I was thirteen." explained the drinker.

Cosmo and Wanda gasped in shock.

"That's two years before the legal age!" bellowed Cosmo.

"I think I'm going to have a heart attack!" screamed Wanda.

"I know...my friends made me go on all sorts of dares..." answered Cana.

"Lousy peer pressure..." murmured the male interviewer.

"Yeah...I've had to deal with that in the past...why did I have to be so popular?" inquired Wanda.

"If you weren't so popular, you might not have gotten a job at the Sorceror's Magazine..." questioned Cosmo.

"You weren't very popular at school...and yet here you are now." pointed out the female interviewer.

"Oh yeah, that's right..." remembered the male interviewer.

Then again, Wanda had stuck up for him every time he had an encounter with the bullies.

"Are you going to dare me to take my clothes off?" asked Cana.

"What?!" bellowed Cosmo. The only person he wanted to see naked was his girlfriend Wanda...and the lady that delivered him his mail.

"Heavens, no!" screeched Wanda.

"Alright then..." answered the card mage.

"I heard that Gildarts Clive is your father...are you popular because of that?" asked Wanda.

"Well, I do have my share of admirers. Then again, that might be because of my bikini top." noted Cana.

"Why did you wear that for an interview?" inquired Cosmo.

"Because I look so good in it!" exclaimed the card mage.

"Well, that's true..." noted the male interviewer.

Wanda rolled her eyes.

"If you want I can wear something skimpier..." said Cana.

"No no no! You're fine!" exclaimed Cosmo.

Wanda let out a sigh.

"You know what? I think this interview has gone on long enough." noted the female interviewer.

"Really? I thought we were just getting started..." spoke Cana.

"It's better if we end this now." spoke Wanda.

"Yeah, maybe..." nodded Cosmo.

Immediately, Cana sat on the bench.

"Let's just get this over with..." said the female mage.

The first picture had Cana drinking some liquor.

The second picture had Cana drinking an entire barrel of beer.

The last picture had her letting out an enormous burp that nearly broke the camera.

"Hey! Those cameras aren't cheap!" complained Wanda.

"Sorry." apologized Cana as she left the interview room.

The next person to have their interview was Droy.

"This barbecue is delicious!" exclaimed the boy.

"Really?" asked Cosmo.

Immediately, he swallowed the barbecue in one gulp.

"Gosh." said Wanda.

He let out a burp.

"Sorry about that." apologized Droy.

"It's fine...our last interviewee let out an enormous one." noted Cosmo.

"Wow." murmured the member of Team Shadow Gear.

"So...I heard that you were a big eater." spoke Wanda.

"Yeah...I can eat more than anyone else in Fairy Tail." said Droy.

"That's nice..." noted Cosmo.

"Then again, I do have serious competition from Choji Akimichi these days..." acknowledged the plant mage.

"I bet you do." nodded Wanda.

"Maybe I should challenge him to an eating contest..." questioned Droy.

While he was at it, maybe he should try challenging Natsu or Hinata. They seemed to be big eaters too.

Then again, he doubted that he could eat fire like they could. He wasn't exactly a fire dragonslayer.

In fact, fire magic tended to burn his plants.

"How long have you and Jet known each other?" inquired Wanda.

"For about fifteen years." answered Droy.

Wanda and Cosmo whistled.

"How long have you two known each other?" asked the plant mage.

"For about ten years." answered the female interviewer.

"So...about a decade then?" inquired Droy.

Cosmo and Wanda both nodded.

"I've known Levy for longer than that...and she still hasn't proposed to me." complained the plant mage.

"I'm sorry to hear that." sympathized Cosmo.

"Maybe we just aren't meant to be together..." spoke Droy.

Wanda placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks...I needed that." said the plant mage.

Then again, he did find Cana to be rather attractive. Maybe he should try hanging out with her again?

Maybe he could try drinking alcohol and she could try eating some food. That would be rather nice.

"I wonder what it would have been like if we scored the same place..." noted Droy.

That would be a twist, wouldn't it?

"Well, a lot of mages scored the same position..." acknowledged Wanda.

"That's true..." nodded the plant mage.

"Well, that's all the time we have for this interview." said Cosmo.

Immediately, Droy went to have his picture taken.

The first picture had him eating a hamburger.

The second picture had him eating a hot dog.

The last picture had him eating both a hamburger and a hot dog at the same time.

"Wow..." murmured Cosmo.

"I must have a big mouth..." acknowledged Droy.

"You sure do!" exclaimed Wanda.

The next person to have their interview was Levy.

Immediately, she let out a yawn.

"Shouldn't you be more excited?" inquired Cosmo.

"Sorry...ever since I became the interdimensional partner of Shikamaru I've been a real sleepyhead..." explained Levy.

"Sorry to hear that." sympathized Wanda.

"I'm going to need my beauty sleep after this interview." noted the bookworm.

"Probably." nodded Cosmo.

"Maybe I should have slept before the race..." suggested Levy.

"Maybe." agreed Wanda.

Once again, she began to yawn.

"You wouldn't happen to have some coffee...would you?" inquired the letter mage.

"We do, actually." nodded Wanda.

Immediately, she directed her to the coffee maker.

"Thank the first guildmaster!" exclaimed Levy.

Levy went over to the coffee maker and made some coffee.

"Thank goodness the coffee maker wasn't broken." noted the letter mage.

Suddenly, the coffee maker broke.

"And of course it broke right after I said that..." spoke Levy.

"Try not to tempt fate next time..." muttered Wanda.

Immediately, she began to repair the coffee maker.

Levy began to drank the coffee.

"That's better." murmured the letter mage.

Curious, Cosmo and Wanda noticed that Levy's shadow had mysteriously come to life.

"What's up with your shadow?" inquired Cosmo.

"It's been like that ever since I became Shikamaru's interdimensional partner." clarified Levy.

"I see..." nodded Wanda.

Immediately, Levy's shadow shook hands with Cosmo and Wanda.

"Well, at least your shadow seems rather polite." noted Cosmo.

"She sure is." nodded Levy.

Levy's shadow bowed down to Cosmo and Wanda.

"How long have you been his interdimensional partner?" inquired Cosmo.

"About a week...and a half." explained Levy.

"I see." nodded Wanda.

"It's rather useful to be able to bend my own shadow...but it's also made me a slacker." noted the letter mage.

Sure enough, she was skipping a lot of her chores as of late.

"That might explain why you didn't do too well during the race." acknowledged Cosmo.

"Well, my interdimensional partner scored first place, so maybe it was just a coincidence. I don't know. I did manage to make it past Happy, at least." noted Levy.

"That's true." said Wanda.

Once again, Levy began to yawn.

"Darn it! I was hoping that the coffee would last longer..." complained the bookworm.

"How did it leave your body so quickly?" inquired Cosmo.

"I don't know..." answered Levy.

Curious, Wanda noticed that Levy's shadow had drank some of the coffee as well.

"That might explain it..." noted the female interviewer.

"My shadow can drink?" inquired Levy.

"How odd..." murmured Cosmo.

Levy shrugged.

"Right then...it's time for you to have your picture taken." spoke Wanda.

"Finally...now I can go to bed." murmured the letter mage.

The first picture had Levy reading a book.

The second picture had Levy yawning.

The last picture had Levy taking a snooze.

"Wake up!" exclaimed Cosmo.

"What?" inquired the letter mage.

Curious, she realized that she had fallen asleep.

"Sorry about that." apologized Levy.

Immediately, she headed straight towards her bed.

The next person to have their interview was Happy.

"It feels funny interviewing an Exceed..." noted Cosmo.

"I know..." agreed Wanda.

"Sweet! I finally get to be interviewed!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"It must be exciting for you." acknowledged the female interviewer.

"Uh-huh!" bellowed Happy.

"Try to relax for us, will you? We want you to answer some questions." explained Cosmo.

Happy began to hyperventilate.

"So...how long have you and Natsu known each other?" inquired Wanda.

"Since I was a kitten!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"That's a long time." noted Cosmo.

"Uh-huh!" shouted Happy.

"Please use your indoors voice." ordered Wanda.

"Fine..." murmured the Exceed.

"That's better." said the female interviewer.

"I guess you and Natsu are pretty close, huh?" asked Cosmo.

"We sure are. Of course, so are Hinata and I." explained Happy.

"Hinata?" inquired Wanda.

"She looked after me while Natsu was gone." clarified the Exceed.

"Oh...I see." nodded Cosmo.

"That was awfully nice of her." acknowledged Wanda.

"Uh-huh!" bellowed the Exceed.

"Was there a particular reason she looked after you?" questioned Cosmo.

"Well, she happened to be Natsu's interdimensional partner." explained Happy.

"That makes sense..." nodded Wanda.

"It was the least she could do, I suppose." said the Exceed.

"Yeah..." agreed Cosmo."W

"Imagine what I would have done without her..." noted Happy.

"Would you have gone crazy?" inquired Wanda.

"Probably." answered the Exceed.

"Right...it was a good thing you didn't have to wear a strait jacket." spoke the female interviewer.

"Uh-huh!" exclaimed Happy.

"I said use your indoors voice." said Wanda.

"Sorry, sorry!" apologized the Exceed.

"Right then...now that I think of it, you seem to be the only Exceed in Fairy Tail..." noted Cosmo.

"Really? Hmm...I might want to invite some more Exceeds into the guild." questioned Happy.

"Maybe..." answered Wanda.

"I'm sure that I would enjoy the company..." spoke the Exceed.

"What about Natsu and Hinata?" inquired Cosmo.

"They love Exceeds...so yes!" exclaimed Happy.

"Use your indoors voice...I shouldn't have to keep telling you that." complained Wanda.

"That's hard for me..." answered the Exceed.

"Yeah...I can see that." nodded the female interviewer.

Once again, Happy began to hyperventilate.

"Gotta stay calm! Gotta stay calm!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"As you say that...you fail to use your indoors voice." said Wanda.

"I just can't win here..." pouted Happy.

"Well, all that's left now are Natsu and Hinata. Let's have your picture taken!" bellowed Cosmo.

"My picture taken?!" screeched the Exceed.

Unfortunately, Happy did not like flash photography at all.

The first picture had him gasping in shock.

The second picture had him screaming in terror.

The last picture...had him unconscious.

"Oh dear...looks like he fainted." noted Wanda.

"I'll take him out of the interview room." answered Cosmo.

Immediately, he picked up Happy and took him outside the interview room.

Natsu and Hinata entered the room a few minutes later.

"Well, would you look at that! You dressed up as each other!" exclaimed Cosmo.

"Makarov said that we should try it...personally I thought it was a good idea." noted Hinata.

"Uh-huh! He's a genius!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Well, he is your guildmaster...so in theory he would be smart." suggested the female dragonslayer.

"Yeah..." nodded the male dragonslayer.

"I actually kind of like this outfit..." spoke Hinata.

"Me too...this outfit feels so warm and comfortable." answered Natsu.

"I guess there a reason I wore this outfit all the time ever since I became sixteen..." acknowledged the former Hyuga heiress.

"You've got to tell me where I can get outfits like this..." spoke the male dragonslayer.

"Well, I know a decent tailor." answered Hinata.

"You've got to take me to her!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Maybe after the interview." suggested the female dragonslayer.

"Oh, right..." nodded the male dragonslayer.

"I'm sorry that you two both scored last and had to dress up as the opposite gender..." sympathized Wanda.

"It's OK...if it weren't for me, Natsu wouldn't have made it across the finish line at all." noted Hinata.

"He wouldn't have?" inquired Cosmo.

"He injured his ankle." explained the female dragonslayer.

Sure enough, Natsu was wearing a cast around his foot.

"At least it should be better soon...I can heal pretty fast..." spoke the male dragonslayer.

"That explains why you keep getting in fights." noted Hinata.

"Fighting is so much fun!" exclaimed Natsu.

"But I don't want you to hurt yourself..." spoke the female dragonslayer.

"How sweet..." murmured Igneel's foster son.

"Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend? I've already asked this a million times but-"

Natsu and Hinata interrupted Wanda.

"No, we are not! Why do people keep asking us that? We're just very good friends, that's all!" exclaimed the male dragonslayer.

"That might change in the future though." noted the female dragonslayer.

Natsu and Hinata both began to blush.

"Right...if you two become a couple...then you have our support." spoke Cosmo.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the duo in unison.

"I know happy Cosmo and I were when we became a couple..." noted Wanda.

"I bet you were happy." spoke Hinata.

"Uh-huh!" exclaimed Cosmo.

"My father's pretty picky about who I should marry though. He said that I should marry an aristocrat." said the kunoichi.

"Yeah...Lucy's father is a bit like that too." noted Natsu.

"Again, our similarities kind of creep me out...I'm a bit glad that I became your interdimensional partner rather than Lucy's to be honest." answered Hinata.

"I think being your interdimensional partner is awesome! I love my new set of eyes!" exclaimed the fire dragonslayer.

"My pair of eyes are weak for a Hyuga clan member's...that's why my father disinherited me." explained the kunoichi.

"That's too bad." answered Natsu.

Immediately, he pressed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to blush.

"Natsu's such a gentleman..." thought Hinata.

"Wait, your father disinherited you?" asked Natsu.

"He said that my younger sister was a better candidate for the title...oddly enough Neji's Byakugan happens to be pretty strong and he's a member of the branch household." noted the female dragonslayer.

"Maybe I should have a talk with your father..." said the male dragonslayer.

"It's OK...I've come to terms with it...at least my younger sister is happy, right?" answered Hinata.

"That's a relief..." sighed Natsu.

"My sensei said that I was an excellent scout...so it really isn't all that bad." noted the female dragonslayer.

"Alright then." nodded the male dragonslayer.

"Who is your sensei?" asked Cosmo.

"A kunoichi by the name of Kurenai...she's really good at genjutsu." noted Hinata.

"Interesting..." spoke Wanda.

"My teacher happens to be a fire dragon..." answered Natsu.

"Yes...I've actually met the guy. He was a bit surprised to learn that I was also a fire dragonslayer." spoke Hinata.

"How long have you been a fire dragonslayer?" inquired Cosmo.

"For about a month or two." explained the fire dragonslayer.

"Really? You seem awfully good at using my abilities." noted Natsu.

"You flatter me." answered Hinata.

"Well, it looks like we've interviewed everyone. Let's have your picture taken! I hope you don't die of embarrassment..." exclaimed Cosmo.

"We won't...we accepted our fates. We're actually kind of happy to dress as each other in fact." explained Natsu.

Hinata nodded.

Immediately, they sat down in the bench together.

The first picture had Hinata smiling for the camera while Natsu stuck his tongue out.

The second picture had Hinata raising her eyebrow while Natsu continued to sting his tongue out.

The last picture had Hinata sticking her tongue out along with Natsu. Apparently, she had decided to join him.

"Have fun!" exclaimed Cosmo and Wanda.

Immediately, Hinata and Natsu left the room.

It had been a very long series of interviews...

...but Cosmo and Wanda had enjoyed every one of them.

_This sure was a long chapter, wasn't it? Maybe I should make the next chapter shorter to compensate...as such, I'm going to keep my author's notes brief._

_Merry Christmas!_


	37. Chapter 37: The Land Of Sorrow

Ninja Tail

_You probably thought that last chapter was rather amusing, am I right? Well, you probably won't think so about this chapter...it's going to be sad._

_As such, I am going to be referring to this chapter as The Land Of Sorrow...you'll see why not too long from now._

**Chapter 37: The Land Of Sorrow**

Naruto smiled as he headed back home to the world of ninja.

Oddly enough, Kimimaro was there to see him.

"Hey there, Kimimaro! Why weren't you at the race?" asked Naruto.

"The race? I was sick..." spoke the bone ninja.

"Oh no! Was your illness flaring up again?" inquired the chunin.

"No no no. I was fine. I was already cured of it, remember? It was just the common cold, that's all." answered Kimimaro.

Naruto sighed in relief.

"That's good to hear." noted the chunin.

Curious, he decided that it was time for him to do a mission.

Much to his surprise, he found that there was another mission to visit the Land Of Waves.

"Hmm? I haven't seen one like this in a while..." spoke Naruto.

Shrugging, he decided to accept the mission, and went to Tsunade to talk about the subject.

"Hey there, Tsunade! I noticed that there was a mission to visit the Land Of Waves..." grinned the chunin.

"Yes, I know." nodded Tsunade.

"Funny, I already went there three years ago..." acknowledged Naruto.

"Did you now?" asked the Sannin.

"Yeah...it was quite a mission." noted the chunin.

"I bet it was...you were still a genin back then...and yet you went on an A-Rank Mission." acknowledged Tsunade.

"Yeah...they didn't tell me about that when I signed up." noted the chunin.

"If only the Land Of Waves wasn't so broke back then..." murmured the Sannin.

"Right...can you give me a mission briefing?" inquired Naruto.

"Sure...as you know, the Land Of Waves has been a valuable asset to us. They've been giving us quite a few goods and services." explained Tsunade.

"That's true." nodded the chunin.

"However, as of late...they've completely cut off all communications with us." spoke the Sannin.

"What? That's pretty odd..." questioned Naruto.

"We know...that's why we want you to investigate. I don't remember wronging them...but maybe you should talk to them anyway." suggested Tsunade.

"Maybe I should." nodded the chunin.

"You do happen to be a friend of theirs...are you not?" inquired the Sannin.

"Of course!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Good. That should make diplomacy a lot easier." acknowledged the Fifth Hokage.

"I bet so!" shouted the chunin.

"However...I can't help but shake the feeling that there's foul play involved." said Tsunade.

"What makes you say that?" inquired Naruto.

"Well, I won money at gambling today." explained the Fifth Hokage.

"Not again...do you think it was Gato's thugs?" asked the chunin.

"I think it's something much worse." answered Tsunade.

"That doesn't sound good..." noted Naruto.

"I suggest that you bring some of your friends with you..." suggested the Sannin.

"Good idea." nodded the chunin.

"I know! I'll bring Sakura with you!" exclaimed Tsunade.

"Huh? Oh, that's right...she went on that mission with me." noted Naruto.

"Don't worry...she won't just stand there and do virtually nothing like she did earlier." answered the Sannin.

"Right, of course..." nodded the chunin. This time they didn't have a bridge builder to protect...so hopefully things would be a bit easier.

Immediately, Sakura entered the office.

"You called?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I need you to go on a mission with Naruto." explained Tsunade.

"Sure!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Thank you, Sakura." cheered Naruto.

"You're welcome." answered the kunoichi.

"That still might not be enough, though...I suggest that you bring more friends." suggested the Fifth Hokage.

"Right...of course." nodded the chunin.

Immediately, he stepped into the interdimensional portal to look for his friends on the other side.

Sure enough, he found Lucy.

"Hey there, Naruto...is there anything you want help with?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I'm on a mission to travel to the Land Of Waves...apparently something strange has happened there." explained Naruto.

"Something strange?" inquired Lucy.

"They've suddenly stopped trading with us...and they didn't bother to explain why." clarified the chunin.

"That is rather odd." agreed the kunoichi.

"Tsunade said that I should bring friends with me...she said that she suspected something sinister has happened." explained Naruto.

"Yikes." murmured Lucy.

"Since you're about as strong as I am I figured you would be a good partner for the mission." noted the chunin.

"I suppose you were right...we do work rather well together." answered the kunoichi.

"I'm starting to see why people keep thinking that we're brother and sister." spoke Naruto.

"Well, we are brother and sister in a sense." noted Lucy.

"Yeah..." nodded the chunin. Since they were both interdimensional partners, they were technically related to each other, albeit not biologically.

"Right...should we bring someone else?" inquired Naruto.

"Well, we could bring Gray and Juvia...they're sitting right over there." said Lucy.

Sure enough, Gray and Juvia were sitting at a table nearby.

"Do you two want to go on a mission with us?" asked the chunin.

"Sure!" exclaimed Juvia.

"That sounds like fun..." noted Gray.

"Alright then! I think we're ready now!" exclaimed Naruto.

Sakura approached Naruto a few seconds later.

"We're all ready?" asked the kunoichi.

"We sure are! We're a five-man band! Well, three women and two men..." noted the chunin.

"Yeah..." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, they stepped through the interdimensional portal.

"So...where is the Land Of Waves?" asked Gray.

"I don't think it's too far from here..." answered Naruto.

Curious, he pulled out a map.

"Nope, it isn't...we're going to need a boat though." noted the chunin.

"I'll take care of it! I have an underwater breathing spell..." explained Juvia.

"Oh...never mind then." said Naruto.

Immediately, they began to head towards the Land Of Waves.

"I have to admit...this does bring back memories..." acknowledged Sakura.

"It sure does." agreed the chunin.

"The Land Of Waves sure sounds like a nice place." spoke Lucy.

"Well, I would imagine so...we went out of our way to make sure it was a nice place to live." noted Sakura.

"Yeah..." concurred Naruto.

"That was nice of you." spoke Gray.

"Yeah...of course, if I had known that Tazuna had been lying to us...I might have been more hesistant to go on that mission." noted the chunin.

"A-Rank Missions are not for genin." nodded Sakura.

"Yeah...I guess not." acknowledged Lucy.

"You think we could go on an A-Rank Mission?" asked Juvia.

"Probably...we're pretty tough nowadays." answered Naruto.

Immediately, he began to flex his muscles.

"Real mature, Naruto." spoke Sakura.

"What? I've been eating my broccoli!" exclaimed the former jinchuriki.

"Well, that's true..." noted Naruto.

**"I still think he's weak." **answered Kurama.

"What about me?" asked Lucy.

**"Well..."** murmured the nine-tailed fox.

Sure enough, a body of water was within sight.

"I guess we should get going now..." spoke Naruto.

Apparently, they were on the right path, because they could view the Land Of Waves from a distance.

However, something didn't seem quite right.

Curious, Juvia encased Naruto and his friends in bubbles so that they could bounce across the ocean.

"This is fun!" exclaimed Naruto.

"It sure is." nodded Lucy.

"Thank goodness Natsu and Hinata didn't go on this mission." noted Gray.

"Yeah..." agreed Juvia.

"I'm not really in the mood for bouncing." complained Sakura.

"Relax...I don't think this is going to take too l-"

Suddenly, Naruto noticed something that alarmed him.

"What the-" exclaimed the chunin.

As it turned out, there was a corpse floating in the water.

Sure enough, Lucy noticed this as well.

"OK...this is a bit disturbing." murmured the kunoichi.

"I'll say." nodded Juvia.

"I wonder what happened. Was this an accident? Or was this something else?" inquired Gray.

"Either way, it looks like he's dead..." spoke Naruto.

Curious, Sakura began to perform an autopsy.

"Hmm...he hasn't been dead for too long. I think something swept him out to sea." explained the kunoichi.

"What could that have been?" questioned Lucy.

**"I'm starting to feel a bit nervous...can we turn back?" **inquired Kurama.

"That doesn't sound like something you would say..." spoke the kunoichi.

**"I know..." **murmured Kurama.

"Hearing you say that makes me feel nervous too." noted Lucy.

Something evil had paid the Land Of Waves a visit, it seemed.

She let out a sigh.

"I guess we should keep going..." noted the summoner.

"Yeah...we do have a mission to complete after all." answered Naruto.

"We wouldn't let to let Tsunade down..." agreed Sakura.

"It's true...we wouldn't." nodded Gray.

"Let's keep going." said Juvia.

Little did they know that was just a sign of what was to come...

_Meanwhile..._

As soon as Hinata and Natsu stepped out of the interview room, they were immediately approached by some hungry autograph hunters.

"Is is true that you sacrificed yourself for Natsu?" inquired an autograph hunter.

"It's true, I did." nodded Hinata.

Immediately, he wanted her autograph.

"Um...sure." answered the kunoichi.

Likewise, the autograph hunters wanted Natsu's autograph as well.

"Sure!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Funny...I wasn't really expecting us to be this popular considering that we lost the race." noted Hinata.

"I know...it's really weird." agreed the male dragonslayer.

Apparently, the public was ecstatic to how much they were willing to sacrifice for each other.

"I'm starting to wonder if we're going to have more fans than Lucy and Shikamaru now..." questioned Hinata.

"We probably are." nodded Natsu.

"Wouldn't that be nice..." murmured the kunoichi.

"Yeah, it would." answered the male dragonslayer.

"I guess slow and steady really does win the race." noted Hinata.

"I guess it does." agreed Natsu.

"I wonder where Naruto is..." spoke the kunoichi.

"I think he went back home." noted the male dragonslayer.

"Really? I actually wanted to stay here a while..." answered the female dragonslayer.

"You do?" asked Natsu.

"Well, yeah...everyone here seems to be happy to see me these days...I might want to contact my father though." noted Hinata.

"You think he's worried about you?" inquired the male dragonslayer.

"Probably." answered the female dragonslayer.

Curious, she pulled out her pager.

"Let's see now...what is his phone number again?" asked Hinata.

She quickly remembered it.

"Oh, that's right...I should have memorized it by now." noted the kunoichi.

Immediately, she began to dial the phone number.

Hiashi answered the phone a few minutes later.

"Hello?" asked the Hyuga clan member.

"I just wanted to see if you were worried about me..." spoke Hinata.

"Not at all! I think it's great that you went on a race...how did you do?" inquired Hiashi.

"Not so well..." answered the kunoichi.

"What place did you get?" asked the leader of the Hyuga clan.

"I got last place..." murmured Hinata.

"Oh dear..." murmured Hiashi Hyuga.

"To be fair, I did sacrifice myself for someone else." answered the kunoichi.

"Very good. That is the Hyuga way." said Hinata's father.

"That's true." nodded Hinata.

"Good to talk to you. I'm always proud of you." stated Hiashi.

Immediately, he hung up the phone.

"How sweet..." murmured Hinata.

"What did he say?" inquired Natsu.

"He says that I did the right thing...and that he's always proud of me." noted the kunoichi.

"I guess I won't have to have a talk with him then..." answered the male dragonslayer.

"Thank goodness." sighed Hinata.

"So, what do you want to do?" asked Natsu.

"I don't know...maybe get something to eat?" asked the kunoichi.

"The cafeteria isn't so far from here...so, sure!" exclaimed the male dragonslayer.

Immediately, Natsu and Hinata entered the cafeteria.

This caused the chef to groan. Feeding one of them was hard enough...but having to feed two of them? He was going to have to work overtime.

Shrugging, he decided that he might as well get started.

To start off their meals, he handed them some chicken wings.

"Delicious!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Uh-huh!" bellowed Hinata.

Immediately, they began to eat the chicken wings ravenously.

"Say...maybe we should challenge each other to an eating contest..." suggested the male dragonslayer.

"But I might get fat..." worried the female dragonslayer.

"It's OK...we can always use a treadmill." noted Natsu.

"That's true." agreed Hinata.

Immediately, they waited for the chef to give them a second course.

This time, he gave them some hamburgers.

"Sweet!" exclaimed the male dragonslayer.

"Alright." smiled the female dragonslayer.

Once again, they finished their food in seconds.

"We might want to wipe off our faces..." noted Hinata.

"Yeah..." acknowledged Natsu.

Immediately, they pulled out napkins to wipe their faces with.

"I'm feeling thirsty now..." said Igneel's foster son.

"There's a vending machine right over there." pointed out the daughter of Hiashi Hyuga.

Immediately, Natsu put in some jewels to get himself a soda pop...which in this case was Dr. Pepper.

"Is there anything you want?" asked the male dragonslayer.

"I'd like some Sprite, please." answered the female dragonslayer.

Natsu put some more jewels in the vending machine.

"Here is your Sprite..." said Igneel's adopted child.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Hinata.

_Meanwhile..._

Things didn't get any better as they began to approach the Land Of Waves. Pretty soon, they began to encounter more corpses.

"OK...something is definitely wrong here." noted Lucy.

"What's going on?" asked Sakura.

"Hmm...something tells me that they weren't just terrible swimmers..." questioned Gray.

"You're right...I think we might have a drowner here..." noted Naruto.

"We might have an arsonist too..." questioned Juvia.

"What?" asked the chunin.

Curious, he noticed that there was a lot of smoke coming from the Land Of Waves.

"That's not good...did a fire suddenly break out?" inquired the chunin.

"If so...I hope that they're trying to put it out..." answered Juvia.

Oddly, the Land Of Waves' citizens weren't making an effort to put out the fire.

"That's pretty odd..." noted Gray.

Shouldn't they be trying to put out the fire?

"I sure hope they have a fire department..." questioned Lucy.

"I would imagine that they had one..." noted Naruto.

Curious, they decided to continue heading towards the Land Of Waves.

Eventually, they reached the bridge.

"Well, here we are...now to head to their town and-"

The five immediately gasped in shock.

The bridge had completely collapsed, and there was blood everywhere!

"What the hell?!" screeched Sakura.

"Who could have done this?!" bellowed Lucy.

"Naruto...is that you?" inquired a voice.

Curious, Naruto looked around, and gasped in shock.

It was none other than Tazuna...and he had no less than six kunai in his back. He was lying on what was left of the bridge.

Unfortunately, it appeared that he was beyond Sakura and Juvia's help. Even their healing abilities had their limits.

"What's going on?!" exclaimed the chunin.

"We were visited...by Kenichi." explained Tazuna.

"Kenichi?! The Dragonrider?! Scourge Of The Ninja Villages?! Last Ninja Of The Chikawa Clan?! You mean him?!" bellowed Naruto.

Tazuna nodded.

"Impossible! Everyone said that he was just a myth!" exclaimed the chunin.

"That's what we thought...until he came." said the elderly man.

_Things were going very well for the Land Of Waves. Thanks to the bridge, the Land Of Waves was now very prosperous._

_In fact, they had just successfully pulled off a very big sale._

_Best of all, Tazuna was now rolling in cash._

_He was almost a billionaire._

_"I'm so glad that I built this bridge..." spoke Tazuna._

_At that very moment, Inari paid him a visit._

_"Greetings!" exclaimed the preteen boy._

_"Good to see you!" bellowed Tazuna._

_"How are things going?" asked Inari._

_"Better than ever!" answered Inari's grandfather._

_"I'm so happy to hear that..." said the boy._

_"And it's all thanks to Naruto!" exclaimed Tazuna._

_"Yeah...Naruto rocks...and quite frankly, Gato sucked." noted the preteen boy._

_"It's true...he did." nodded the elderly man._

_"I'll see you later, grandpa!" bellowed Inari._

_"Goodbye!" exclaimed Tazuna._

_Immediately, Inari left, and he felt that it was the best day of his life._

_However, about fifteen minutes later...he began to hear the sound of wings flapping._

_"Hmm? That's odd...Konoha has never visited us by air before..." noted Tazuna._

_This was very strange._

_Curious, he looked up, and noticed that there was a dragon approaching them._

_All of a sudden, he began to feel rather nervous._

_"Um...I don't ever recall them using a dragon either..." thought Tazuna._

_This kept getting weirder and weirder._

_Curious, he began to wonder what was going on._

_Immediately, a man that he had never met before jumped off of the dragon._

_It was Kenichi Chikawa._

_He raised an eyebrow. Oddly enough, he could have sworn that he had heard of the man somewhere...weren't there rumors going around the Land Of Waves about a man riding a dragon?_

_Apparently, there was some truth in those rumors._

_"Can we help you?" asked Tazuna._

_"Oh, I'm here for only one thing..." answered Kenichi._

_"Only...one thing?" inquired the old man._

_"I'm here to kill you all and raze this land until nothing will ever prosper here again!" bellowed the ninja._

_"What?!" screeched Tazuna._

_"Shinsui!" bellowed Kenichi._

_Wondering what was going on, he suddenly noticed tentacles emerging from the water, causing him to gasp in shock._

_Immediately, they grabbed onto some unfortunate Land Of Waves villagers, causing them to scream in terror._

_They had been eaten by Shinsui, who eagerly enjoyed the taste of her victims._

_They were pulled down into the water...and then they knew no more._

_At this point, Tazuna had been stunned into silence._

_"Did you really think it was that easy to save your precious village, Tazuna? No bridge can save you from me...nothing can!" exclaimed Kenichi._

_Immediately, he had Kaishi pick up Tazuna and lift him up in to the sky._

_"Let's watch as I destroy your precious bridge, shall we?" asked the ninja._

_"No! Stop!" begged Tazuna._

_Shinsui struck the bridge with a tidal wave, sweeping away several more unfortunate villagers to their deaths._

_Tazuna tried to cover his eyes, but Kenichi reopened them._

_"Have you all lost hope yet? No? Alright then!" exclaimed the ninja._

_Immediately, he began to summon another creature._

_"Rainu! Kill!" bellowed Kenichi._

_A ferocious-looking lion appeared in a burst of electricity._

_Letting out a roar, lightning bolts electrocuted more of the villagers, reducing them to ash._

_"Oh my god!" exclaimed Tazuna._

_"Well, now for the bridge..." spoke Kenichi._

_"Nooooo!" screamed the bridge builder._

_Snapping his fingers, Raini and Shinsui worked in tandem to destroy the bridge...which they did within a few minutes._

_Kenichi smirked in satisfaction._

_Immediately, Tazuna began to cry._

_"Right then...I guess it's off to your hometown next..." said the ninja._

_Tazuna gasped in shock. Was the bridge only half of what he intended to do?_

_"Too bad you won't live to see me destroy it..." spoke Kenichi._

_Tazuna's eyes widened._

_Immediately, he dropped Tazuna onto what used to be the Great Naruto Bridge, causing him to break his leg in the process._

_He then opened his palm, and launched six kunai into his back, making him scream in pain._

_"It's so pleasurable to see you die nice and slow." noted Kenichi._

_It was only what he felt that he deserved._

_Dismissing Shinsui and Rainu, he decided it was time to use some different summons._

_"Wakaze! Chuma!" exclaimed Kenichi._

_Immediately, an enormous eagle and a colossal bear appeared with a sudden gust of wind and tremor respectively._

_"Kill everyone on this island!" bellowed the ninja._

_Wakaze and Chuma nodded, and they began to head straight towards town._

"I can't believe it..." murmured Naruto.

"Neither can I..." answered Tazuna.

He began to cough up blood.

"Naruto...I want you to stop Kenichi...or failing that, get as far away from him as you can..." spoke Tazuna.

"I will." nodded Naruto.

"Thank you...for saving the Land Of Waves...I couldn't have done it...without you." murmured the bridge builder.

With that, he drew his final breath.

"Tazuna? Tazuna!" screamed the chunin.

"Is he..." asked Sakura.

"Yes, he is." answered Naruto.

"Kenichi, you bastard!" screamed Gray.

Naruto began to cry.

Sakura placed her hand on his shoulder. This had hit her as hard as it had hit Naruto...though she wasn't crying as much.

"He...he said that Kenichi was going to attack the rest of the Land Of Waves too...Inari and Tsunami may be in danger..." said Naruto.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Juvia.

"I guess we can check for survivors...though personally I'm not counting on it." spoke the former jinchuriki.

Immediately, Lucy began to cry as well. Now she knew just how evil Kenichi was...and why they needed to stop him.

Sighing, they decided to continue onward...expecting even more bodies.

_Meanwhile..._

Hinata let out a sigh as she drank the Sprite that Natsu had provided.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I think something horrible has happened." said the kunoichi.

"What makes you say that?" inquired the fire dragonslayer.

"I just think that there was a great tragedy..." explained Hinata.

"I'm starting to feel it too..." murmured Natsu.

"You are?" asked the kunoichi.

"Yeah..." nodded Natsu.

At that very moment, Erza paid them a visit.

"What's the matter? I was expecting you to eat more than this..." questioned Erza.

"Hinata said that something terrible occurred..." explained Natsu.

"What happened?" asked the knight.

"I don't know for sure." answered Hinata.

"Hmm..." pondered Erza.

"Maybe we should head back to Konoha to investigate?" asked Natsu.

"I guess I'll go." said Hinata.

Immediately, she went to the interdimensional portal to head back to the world of ninja.

"Bye!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Goodbye." answered Natsu.

"Oddly enough I'm starting to feel it too..." noted Erza.

Natsu began to frown.

"What exactly is going on at the world of ninja?" inquired the fire dragonslayer.

"It can't be anything good..." acknowledged the knight.

"Yeah..." agreed the fire mage.

"Personally I wonder if I should head there myself..." spoke Erza.

"But you haven't been to the world of ninja before..." answered Natsu.

"Yeah..." acknowledged the knight.

"By the way, I think I've overcome Hinata's initial shyness as of late..." spoke the fire dragonslayer.

"That's a relief." nodded Erza.

"Yeah...I feel so much better now..." said Natsu.

Erza sighed in relief.

"Well, let me know if it starts flaring up again." spoke the knight.

"I will." nodded the fire dragonslayer.

Personally she wondered if Naruto was OK. She wouldn't want anything to happen to him.

She actually wanted to do a mission with him again to be honest. It was always that much more enjoyable with him around.

_At the outskirts of the Land Of Waves..._

"Well, it looks like a job well done." answered Kenichi.

From what he could see, he had left no survivors. Everyone was dead, and he was responsible for every single death.

However, he wanted to make sure.

"Why don't I send out a clone?" asked the ninja.

He was about to do so...when he remembered what had happened last time.

"Oh, that's right...I better send out two rather than one in order to make sure." noted Kenichi.

Immediately, he summoned two different copies of himself.

"Make sure that nobody's still alive, would you? I'm just double-checking..." said the ninja.

The clones nodded, and began to search for survivors.

"Well, I think I'm done here for the time being..." acknowledged Kenichi.

This time, he decided to use Shinsui as transportation...as she could hurtle through water like nobody's business.

"Where to go next..." thought the ninja.

Immediately, he leapt on top of the octopus and began to ride towards where his conquest would take him next.

"I don't know where to go next..." spoke Kenichi.

Once again, he began to flashback.

_"Where are we going?" asked one of Kenichi's friends._

_"Oh, just a small forest outside of town..." explained Kenichi._

_Sure enough, it was in sight._

_"Is there a particular reason you wanted me to come here?" asked the teenage boy._

_"Just one..." answered Kenichi._

_Immediately, Kenichi's friend began to feel rather nervous. Something just didn't seem right about this._

_Sure enough, they arrived at their destination._

_"There...now nobody can see us..." spoke Kenichi._

_Kenichi's friend raised an eyebrow._

_His suspicions were confirmed when suddenly Kenichi drove his fist through his chest._

_He collapsed on the ground and died instantly._

_Kenichi smirked in satisfaction. Now there were one less weak ninja in the world._

_Still, he hoped that he would be able to do more one day._

Of course, back then, not even he knew that he would go on to become a missing-nin, arsonist, and mass murderer.

It was always nice to have flashbacks like that.

Immediately, Kenichi sped off into the distance, crossing off the Land Of Waves on his map as he did so.

_Back at the Land Of The Waves..._

Things did not look any better at the urban part of the Land Of Waves itself. It looked like everybody had been killed.

"I feel sick..." murmured Juvia.

"So do I." nodded Gray.

Curious, Naruto decided to visit Inari, expecting the worst.

Sure enough, there was no sign of him or his mother.

Naruto let out a sigh.

"I guess that's it then..." spoke the chunin.

Suddenly, he heard a voice.

"Naruto? Is that you?" asked Inari.

Naruto gasped in surprise.

"Inari! You're alive!" exclaimed the chunin.

"Yes...I am...I don't know where my mother is though." said the preteen boy.

"Me neither." answered Naruto.

"I can't believe that someone would do this..." spoke Inari.

_Inari wondered what was going on. He had heard screaming coming from the bridge._

_He personally wanted to go to investigate, but Tsunami held him back._

_She said that something bad was happening and that it was too dangerous._

_She was right on her ryo._

_"Kill them all! Leave no survivors!" bellowed Kenichi._

_Sure enough, Chuma was creating an enormous fissure to kill the citizens of the Land Of Waves._

_They were falling into the cracks in the earth one after another, causing them to scream at the top of their lungs._

_"Goodbye!" exclaimed the ninja._

_Inari couldn't believe what was going on. He felt like he was having a nightmare._

_Suddenly, he heard his mother scream._

_Curious, he looked around, and screamed as well._

_Wakaze had grabbed his mother with her talons._

_"Inari, I love you!" exclaimed Tsunami._

_"Mama!" bellowed Inari._

_Immediately, Wakaze took Tsunami away._

_Frantically, Inari fled to the basement. Hopefully Kenichi or his summons wouldn't find him._

_Still, he was worried about his mother's safety._

_Was she going to be OK?_

"I'm afraid that you were visited by Kenichi..." spoke Naruto.

"Kenichi Chikawa?!" bellowed Inari.

"Yes...I'm surprised that he paid the Land Of Waves a visit myself..." spoke the chunin.

"I don't believe it...when I first met Gato, I thought that he was the worst person that I have ever met...but now...I think that he was an angel!" exclaimed the preteen boy.

Immediately, he began to cry.

Naruto placed his hand on his shoulder.

"It's OK...we'll find you a new home..." spoke the chunin.

"Thank you...I appreciate it." answered Inari.

At that very moment, Sakura entered the household.

"Um, Naruto...I'm afraid that there's something that you need to see..." spoke the kunoichi.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Curious, he went outside...

...and gasped in shock.

Sure enough, there was Tsunami, ripped in half by Wakaze and one of her wind jutsus.

"No..." murmured Naruto.

"We need to tell Inari about this..." spoke Sakura.

"Yes, we do." nodded the former jinchuriki.

Immediately, Naruto went to tell Inari the bad news.

"She's...dead?" inquired the preteen boy.

"Yes...I suggest you cover your eyes when you go outside." said Naruto.

Lucy entered the house a few seconds later.

At this point, Inari was bawling.

Fortunately, she was there to embrace him.

**"Kenichi makes me sick." **murmured Kurama.

"I'm with you there." agreed Lucy.

Suddenly, they began to hear footsteps outside.

"Hmm?" asked Lucy.

Curious, she let go of Inari and went to investigate.

She gasped in surprise.

"Not again..." murmured the kunoichi.

Sure enough, Gray, Sakura, and Juvia were waiting outside.

"Has Kenichi sent another clone after us?" asked the ice mage.

"I think he's sent two of them after us this time." answered Lucy.

"What?!" bellowed Juvia.

Sure enough, there were two of them this time.

Immediately, Juvia went to protect Inari from the two clones, encasing him in a bubble.

"Will this...keep me safe?" asked the boy.

"Hopefully." answered the water mage.

Naruto, Lucy, Sakura, Gray, and Juvia got ready to fight.

Granted, they were able to defeat one clone...

...but would they be able to defeat two?

_Meanwhile at Mana City..._

Chiyoye happily drained the life of Mana City's citizens...

...only to notice that there appeared to be having a meeting at the town center.

"Curious..." thought the female mage.

She went to investigate, and gasped in surprise.

It was none other than her old mentor.

"Greetings, everyone. As we all know, my former apprentice Chiyoye Headstone is wreaking havoc on this city...fortunately, I have come here to stop her." explained Professor Fumbledore.

The civilians let out a sigh of relief.

"To be honest, I can't help but feel partly responsible. I taught her too much too quickly...if I ever take up another apprentice, I'll have to see where their loyalties lie. Chiyoye's only allegiance was to herself this whole time." spoke the professor.

The civilians sighed.

"But no matter. I can't run away from my past...I have to face it. It is time for me to deal with my former pupil...once and for all." said the elderly wizard.

However, at that very moment, one of the civilians noticed Chiyoye out in the distance.

He immediately spread this information to the rest of Mana City's citizens, who snarled at her in rage.

"What's this? They appear to have spotted me." noted the sorceress.

"Now now now. Let's not do anything hasty. I'm going to deal with her my-"

However, the civilians weren't going to listen to reason.

Immediately, they began to charge towards Chiyoye, ready to make her suffer for what she had done to their family and friends.

"Well well well. It looks like they're actually fighting back this time." acknowledged the necromanceress.

Immediately, she began to smile.

"Perfect." murmured Chiyoye.

Sure enough, one of the civilians lunged at her with an axe.

In retaliation, she incinerated him with a lightning bolt.

"This is still too easy." spoke the sorceress.

Of course, more civilians were beginning to attack, some from a distance.

"Trying to gang up on me, are you? I guess I'll have to do something about that." noted Chiyoye.

Immediately, she began to summon some of her undead...in this case, skeleton warriors.

Sure enough, this allowed her to gain the advantage.

"You're going to have to do better than that..." spoke Chiyoye.

Suddenly, one of the civilians began to drive a truck towards her.

"Oh dear...wouldn't want to be hitting me now..." noted the sorceress.

Immediately, she teleported towards a building, causing the truck to crash.

"Still too easy." smirked Chiyoye in satisfaction.

However, the civilians weren't done yet. This time, they were attacking her with a helicopter that was loaded with a turret.

Quickly, she shot it down with another lightning bolt.

She began to yawn shortly afterwards.

Looking down, she noticed that the civilians were entering the building she was in, hoping to reach the roof so that they could kill her.

Sure enough, there was a door on the roof that they could use to approach her.

"I guess I might as well come up with a strategy when they show up..." noted Chiyoye.

Curious, she noticed that there were several gargoyle statues on the roof...and suddenly, she got an idea.

"I know exactly what to do..." said the sorceress.

Snapping her fingers, the gargoyle statues came to life, becoming actual gargoyles.

"What is your request, mistress?" asked one of the gargoyles.

"Oh, it's rather simple...I want you to kill everyone that comes out of that door." explained Chiyoye.

Sure enough, the gargoyles began to surround the door, ready to ambush any unsuspecting citizens.

Immediately, they burst through the door, ready to attack Chiyoye...

...only to find themselves being clawed to death instead.

"Hahaha." laughed the necromanceress.

However, some of the citizens managed to break through. One of them even pushed her off the building.

"Yes! I killed her! She's-"

"No, I am not." interrupted Chiyoye.

Unfortunately for the civilians, their nemesis was capable of flight.

"Did you think I would teleport to the top of the building without a flight spell?" asked the sorceress.

"Well, that makes sense..." noted the civilian.

Chiyoye launched a fireball at the citizens, and then they were no more.

"Go ahead! Send out the military! See if I care!" exclaimed the sorceress.

Sure enough, police officers were arriving on the scene.

"Freeze!" bellowed one of the cops.

"As you wish." smirked Chiyoye.

Chiyoye snapped her fingers, and the cops were frozen to death in a block of ice.

"So much for their police force." said the necromanceress.

More police officers began to arrive on the scene.

One of them pulled out a loudspeaker.

"Come down with your hands up!" exclaimed the cop.

"Personally I think you should be surrendering to me..not like I'm going to grant you mercy." answered Chiyoye.

Casting another spell, an enormous zombie hand crushed the police officers to death.

"They think they can just put handcuffs on my wrists and shove me in a prison cell? Surely the police chief at Elm Town must have taught them something..." noted the sorceress.

Getting desperate, one of the police officers pulled out a sniper rifle.

In retaliation, she made his head explode.

"Trying to shoot me in the head, are you? Sorry, but it looks like I already beat you to the punch." noted Chiyoye.

Getting desperate, the remaining police officers put on their riot control gear.

"What a riot." smirked the sorceress.

Shrugging, she decided to head back down to ground level to confront them up close and personal.

Unfortunately, their police batons weren't doing any good against her at all.

Nor were their shields...they simply could not protect them from her powerful spells.

And to make matters worse, Chiyoye's gargoyles had joined the fray.

"Get them off us!" exclaimed the riot control force.

However, they were able to harm the gargoyles with their police batons.

"Well, I guess they aren't invulnerable...though they're serving me well regardless." acknowledged the mage.

The gargoyles seemed competent enough...though she still had a ways to go before she was ready to conquer Fairy Tail.

Now that she thought of it...was it possible that Fairy Tail had sent her former mentor to take her down?

If so, she was looking forward to battling him.

"I've been waiting so long for this..." said Chiyoye.

Maybe if she vanquished all the citizens, maybe Professor Fumbledore would battle her himself.

After all, that was his original intention...to battle her one-on-one.

"I suppose if I can reach him...my undead and my summons can make sure that this is a one-on-one fight..." spoke Chiyoye.

Personally she felt that she could slaughter Professor Fumbledore even if he had the entire city backing up...but she felt that it would be more exciting to save him for last.

Curious, she noticed that he appeared to be summoning a creature of some kind.

"Pegasus, attack!" exclaimed Professor Fumbledore.

"Oh, would you look at that. He's sending a pony after me." spoke Chiyoye.

Immediately, the pegasus began to fly towards the sorceress.

Chiyoye struck him with a wicked lightning bolt, but this didn't hurt him that much.

"Well, I didn't want things to be that easy..." acknowledged the necromanceress.

The pegasus charged straight towards Chiyoye, hoping to impale her with his horn.

This did not work out at all.

"Trying to attack me at close-range? Surely you know better than that." questioned the magician.

Immediately, she grabbed onto the pegasus and drained the life out of it.

She then reanimated it and began to use it as a mount.

"I've always wanted to ride one of these when I was little!" exclaimed Chiyoye.

Professor Fumbledore snarled. He was well-aware that Chiyoye's greatest strength was her profound ability to use her enemies' resources against them.

Immediately, he decided he needed to summon something more powerful.

This time, he decided to summon seven dwarves.

"What's this? Let's see now...I'll call you Eviscerated, I'll call you Disemboweled, I'll call you Bloodstain, I'll call you Mutilated, I'll call you Decapitated, I'll call you Rotting Corpse, and I'll call you Butchered." taunted Chiyoye.

The seven dwarves began to glare at her. Off to work they went.

Granted, they would rather take a trip to the mines than actually hunt someone down...but Professor Fumbledore was counting on them.

They did not want to let him down.

"Gather round, boys!" exclaimed the leader of the dwarves.

Immediately, they got into a battle stance.

"Hmm...that's an interesting formation you've got there." noted Chiyoye.

Shortly afterwards, they began to pull out dynamite.

"Oh, what's this? It appears that you've got explosives..." spoke the sorceress.

Immediately, she used her undead pegasus to fly into the air so that they would have a harder time hitting her.

Sure enough, they began tossing the dynamite...but they were having a hard time hitting her.

"This is just too much fun..." murmured Chiyoye.

_This was a sad chapter, wasn't it? That's right...Kenichi actually destroyed the Land Of Waves. I believed I already foreshadowed this._

_In the next chapter...well...we're going to see some more action. I'm sorry if I made you all cry...but Kenichi and Chiyoye should have never been born..._

_Again, Merry Christmas!_


	38. Chapter 38: Teacher And Student

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Naruto, Lucy, Sakura, Juvia, and Gray will be taking on Kenichi's two clones._

_Oh, and we're going to see how Chiyoye's duel with her old mentor turns out._

**Chapter 38: Teacher And Student**

Naruto launched a Rasengan at one of Kenichi's clones, but unfortunately it grabbed on and tossed it right back at him.

"What the heck?!" bellowed the chunin.

"Sorry, but it's not that simple. As Kenichi said, the Rasengan doesn't mean much to him..." answered Lucy.

Naruto let out a sigh.

"How am I going to fight him now?" asked the chunin. Without the Rasengan, he felt rather weak.

"Try summoning something? That's what I usually do whenever I found myself in a bad situation...like when some psychopath's trying to kill me." asked Lucy.

Naruto shrugged. That seemed as good of an idea as any. He really didn't want anyone to spill his blood.

Immediately, he pulled out some summoner keys.

"Which one should I use?" asked the chunin.

One of the Kenichi clones swung a sword at Naruto.

"I might want to hurry..." noted the former jinchuriki.

"Yeah..." agreed Lucy.

Sakura punched one of the clones in the face, causing smoke to leak out of him.

However, the other clone picked up Sakura and tossed him at Gray, causing them both to scream.

"These clones are strong..." noted Sakura.

"We can't really expect any less from Kenichi Chikawa..." acknowledged Gray.

"And here I thought that facing one of his clones was bad enough..." said Juvia.

"Yeah...I already faced one of these before and it was an experience that I'm not going to forget anytime soon." spoke Lucy.

"I'm not going to forget this battle!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Let's just hope that it isn't our last." murmured Sakura.

One of the Kenichi Clones began to summon a squid to attack Sakura. It vaguely resembled Kenichi's water summon, Shinsui.

Sure enough, it wrapped its tentacles around her.

"I'm going to ignore the implications here..." said the kunoichi.

"Hey! Let her go!" demanded Naruto.

Immediately, he summoned Virgo to rip the squid off of Sakura. Considering how strong she was, she seemed like a good candidate for the job.

"How may I help you, master?" inquired the maiden.

"I need you to remove that squid from Sakura...she wants to remain a virgin." explained Naruto.

Sakura sweatdropped.

"Right, of course..." nodded Virgo.

Immediately, she removed the squid from the kunoichi.

"Thank you..." said Sakura.

In retaliation, she punched the squid towards one of Kenichi's clones, causing it to latch onto his face.

However, the two clones still no showed no signs of slowing down their assault.

One of the clones grabbed onto Virgo and flung her at Naruto. Apparently, Sakura wasn't the only one with superhuman strength.

"Aaugh!" bellowed the chunin as he collapsed on the floor.

"Sorry, master!" apologized Virgo.

"It's fine...it wasn't your fault." answered Naruto.

The other clone then followed up by stabbing the maiden with a sword, causing her to burst into yellow mana.

Naruto let out a sigh. He wouldn't be able to summon her again for the time being.

He tried attacking the clones with some shadow clones of his own, but they were able to burst them into smoke somewhat easily.

Kenichi's two clones then followed by beginning to shoot at Gray, hoping to pump him full of lead.

"Hey!" exclaimed the ice mage.

Frantically, he began to avoid the bullets.

"They seem to have guns..." acknowledged Juvia.

"Mm-hmm." nodded Sakura.

Immediately, Gray set up an ice shield to protect himself from the bullets.

However, one of the clones was converting his arm into a one-handed flamethrower.

"They are so smart..." murmured Naruto.

Curious, he wondered if the clone was vulnerable to assault while he was doing so.

"Let's find out..." said the chunin.

Immediately, he began to charge up another Rasengan. Hopefully he wouldn't be wasting his chakra this time.

As it turned out, the clones were in fact vulnerable while they were changing their weapons. The clone was hit by the Rasengan and fell on the floor, much to Naruto's satisfaction.

However, he wasn't down for the count, and he was currently swallowing a pill in order to heal himself.

"Where did it get that pill?" inquired Lucy. She had seen the clone reach into his pocket...but other than that he had no idea where he had gotten those pills.

"I don't know..." answered Naruto. Did Kenichi's clones have ninja equipment on them? He wished that his shadow clones had something like that.

Curious, he wondered if he should try taking those pills away from the clones so that they couldn't heal themselves.

It would make life a lot easier for them.

However, when he walked up to one of the clones, he ended up being punched away.

"Darn it!" bellowed the chunin.

This was then followed by the clone burning him with his arm flamethrower.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot hot!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Are you OK, Naruto?" inquired Sakura.

"Well, none of the burns seem to be third-degree..." clarified the chunin.

Immediately, Sakura began to heal Naruto.

However, one of the clones tried to hit Sakura while she was distracted.

In retaliation, Juvia hit the clone with her three-armed punch.

"Having multiple pairs of arms is useful..." noted the water mage.

"I bet it is." agreed Sakura.

This must have harmed the clone significantly, because he was covering his face.

The other clone decided it was time to defend him.

"Darn it! He's trying to protect his ally from attack..." murmured Lucy.

"These clones are clever..." noted Sakura.

Personally Naruto wondered if Kenichi had decided to steal forbidden scrolls from his village. Then again, that wouldn't surprise him...he had heard that he was a missing-nin.

In fact, he had heard that he had wiped out his own village.

"I haven't heard of someone doing that since Itachi Uchiha..." thought Naruto.

Curious, the five of them began to wonder how they were going to slip past the clone's defense.

Gray tried shooting icicles, but it immediately blocked with a shield.

And to make matters worse, the clone was swallowing more pills in order to heal himself.

Lucy began to wonder why the clone wasn't using a miniature King Of Hell to heal instead.

Maybe each clone was a bit different? Rinnegan wielders did happen to have a lot of abilities...so maybe Kenichi didn't give these particular clones the abilities of his Naraka Path.

If this was the case, they might have to change their strategy each time they encounter a Kenichi clone...which they probably would in the future. He always did seem to catch them by surprise.

Hopefully he wouldn't keep running away from them forever and they would have a chance to bring him to justice, right?

Then again, they probably still weren't ready to fight him. Sure, they were getting stronger...but they needed to do some hardcore training if they wanted to stand a chance against him.

Getting a bit desperate, Naruto decided to try using his new Twin Rasengan technique.

This time, he succeeded magnificiently.

"Yes!" exclaimed the chunin, satisfied at his achievement.

Now that he thought of it...Jiraiya did say that he worked best whenever his life was in mortal peril.

"That's true...though he didn't need to shove me off a cliff just to demonstrate that to me..." noted Naruto.

Imagine what a bloody stain on the floor he could have become...and to think he was only thirteen years old back then!

"I might want to have a talk with Jiraiya the next time we train...I'll just have to beg him not to kill me." murmured the chunin.

Deciding that needed to stay focused, Naruto tossed his Twin Rasengan at the clone.

Sure enough, this caused him to topple over, allowing him to launch an attack on his injured comrade.

Unfortunately, he had already healed much of his injuries...though he still had smoke coming out of him nonetheless.

Much to his surprise, he found that Lucy was doing a Twin Rasengan as well.

"You can use the Twin Rasengan too?" inquired Naruto.

"I think I learned it when you did..." answered Lucy.

"Oh yeah...we're still interdimensional partners..." noted the chunin.

**"Aren't you a copycat." **remarked Kurama.

"I'm his interdimensional partner. Anything he can do, I can do too...except summon Celestial Spirits. I traded the celestial keys for animal contracts...and you, of course." explained Lucy.

**"Yeah...I bet he's throwing a party now that I'm gone." **answered the nine-tailed fox.

"Probably. Are you going to start giving me your chakra yet? I would imagine that you would..." noted the kunoichi.

**"I can do that...if you get really cheesed off." **explained Kurama.

"Why would I get cheesed off?" asked Lucy.

**"Well, maybe if one of your comrades got wounded...maybe then you'll get access to my chakra. Personally I'm looking forward to the seal getting weakened." **clarified the fox.

"Hmm..." thought the kunoichi. Maybe she should take deep breaths.

Lucy hit the injured clone with her Twin Rasengan, causing it to be wounded.

Sakura then followed by punching it in the face, causing it to burst into smoke.

"One down!" bellowed the kunoichi.

However, the other clone was not amused.

Immediately, he grabbed onto Sakura's arm and began to rip her soul out.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Fortunately, Naruto was able to stab the clone in the arm with a kunai to force him to let go, thus saving her life.

"Are you going to ask me for a kiss?" asked Sakura. At this point she was well-aware of Naruto's crush on her.

"I've...already found someone else." answered Naruto, thinking about Erza Scarlet.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. Was Naruto actually over her? She...honestly didn't know what to say about that.

"Who is it?" asked Juvia.

"A girl with red hair..." explained the chunin.

Gray raised an eyebrow. Who could that possibly be? For some strange reason he got the feeling that he knew that person somewhere.

Was it a member of Fairy Tail?

"If we survive this...do you want any favors?" inquired Sakura.

"Just some ramen." answered Naruto.

Sakura shrugged. That seemed reasonable.

"I'd like some ramen too..." murmured Lucy.

**"Again, you're a real copycat..." **spoke Kurama.

"Again, I'm his interdimensional partner. I can't help it." answered the kunoichi.

Realizing that his attempt to rip out Sakura's soul had failed, Kenichi's clone tried to rip out Juvia's.

It was rather fortunate for Naruto and his friends that it took his clones a far longer time to rip out a soul than it did Kenichi...otherwise they wouldn't have a window of opportunity to save a potential victim.

However, Juvia had a way to counter that.

Immediately, she converted some of her body into water, causing the arm of the clone to get stuck.

Frantically, Kenichi's clone tried to remove his arm, but he couldn't do anything about it at the moment.

This gave Gray the opportunity to stab the clone in the back with an ice sword, causing it to screech.

He then followed by dropping icicles on his head, making it burst into smoke.

"Thank you for saving me, Gray!" squealed Juvia.

"Um...no, I didn't. You trapped it, remember?" inquired the ice mage.

"Huh? I guess I just have a big imagination then..." noted the water mage.

"It's not like that's a bad thing..." answered Gray.

Juvia began to blush.

"Of course, now that I said that...you're probably thinking about me stripping down, aren't you?" asked the devil slayer.

"But you do it all the time." pointed out the water mage.

"Well, that's true..." answered Gray.

"Yes! We managed to slay not just one, but two of Kenichi's clones! We're the champions!" bellowed Naruto.

"Don't get too excited, Naruto." warned Lucy. "The more of his clones we kill, the higher he's going to put us on his hit list. And of course, there's also the simple fact that he's still out there."

"Oh, right...I guess we shouldn't be celebrating then." noted the former jinchuriki.

"We don't want to be arrogant, since that's his defining trait. And besides, sometimes tells me he might try to create a stronger clone in the future..." questioned the kunoichi.

"A stronger clone?" asked Naruto.

"He probably likes to experiment." answered Lucy.

"Yeah...you're right...I'm actually starting to feel rather worried." noted Naruto.

"I'm with you there. We never know where he's going to strike next..." spoke Sakura.

"I hate him so much..." scowled Gray.

"So do I..." agreed Juvia.

"I guess we should get Inari to Tsunade for now...she'll want to know how our mission went." noted Naruto.

"Yeah...she will." nodded Sakura.

"We'll have to tell her about what had happened to the Land Of Waves...we shouldn't sugarcoat it." said Gray.

"As much as I would like to do that...I'd have to agree." spoke the water mage.

Immediately, Lucy went to fetch Inari.

"Are the clones gone?" inquired the preteen boy.

"Yes...you're safe now." answered the summoner kunoichi.

"Thank goodness...I'm glad that the carnage is over...I feel so bad about my grandfather and mother though..." noted Inari.

"I know it feels to lose the latter." sympathized Lucy.

Inari began to hug Lucy tightly.

"Right...we'll find you a new home. I don't think you can stay here..." noted the kunoichi.

"I'll probably need some therapy..." acknowledged the preteen boy.

"You probably will." answered the kunoichi. She wasn't there to see the carnage and she was still somewhat sickened by it herself.

Immediately, the six of them headed towards Konoha.

_Meanwhile..._

Kenichi grunted in frustration. He was able to sense that his two clones had both been slain...and that they had not succeeded in their task. Somehow, he got the feeling that someone had survived his massacre.

Granted, the Land Of Waves had been a much bigger target than what he usually went after...but it was a blow to his ego nonetheless. Up until now, he never recalled leaving any survivors...and that had never been his intention.

"At least he'll probably spread stories about me...tell people about how I had brutally slaughtered his family and friends..." thought Kenichi. That was a consolation prize, at least.

Maybe he could just hunt him down later? Once he set his eyes on his target, there was never any escape for them. He was just too fast...and too strong.

Of course, there was also the matter of the ninja that he had already encountered before surviving his wrath once again as well.

He thought that two clones should be more than enough to kill them...but he had thought wrong. They were still very much alive, and they were going to live to see another day. This did not do any favors to his self-esteem.

Personally, he was beginning to think that maybe he should just deal with them himself rather than continue to send his clones after them. That way they would stop plaguing his mind.

However, after he had exerted himself by destroying an entire land rather than just a clan, he didn't want to do all that much for the time being.

So, he decided that it was time for him to ignore the ninja that he had encountered twice and move onto something else...at least until later. There were places to go, weak ninja to kill.

"I'll kill them next time." he thought. The next time he encountered them, he was going to try something different rather than simply summon clones and move on to another set of victims.

Immediately, he began to head towards a deserted island, riding on the back of Shinsui.

Dismissing his water summon, he began to think of his next course of action.

Now that he thought of it...what if he tried attacking ninja across the sea?

That wasn't something that he had tried before (despite having a powerful water summon)...

...and it was something that sounded rather appetizing. Something told him that there were weak ninja out in the sea as well.

"I think I know who's I'm going to target next...small ships..." thought Kenichi.

A wide smile appeared on his face.

Summoning Wakaze (who naturally had the eyes of an eagle), he began to search for ships to sink.

Sure enough, he found a small boat nearby.

Giving the signal to her, Wakaze then used a flap of her wings to tear the boat to shreds with a powerful gust of wind.

This naturally caused the sailors onboard to drown. Unfortunately, they had forgotten to bring lifeboats.

Kenichi began to smile.

_A few hours later..._

Naruto, Lucy, Sakura, Gray, Juvia, and Inari all entered Tsunade's office, all looking rather depressed.

"What's the matter? And who's this that came with you?" inquired the Sannin.

"It's the Land Of Waves! It's been utterly devastated! Inari was the only survivor!" bellowed Naruto.

"I was afraid that this had happened...was it Kenichi?" asked Tsunade.

"Yes..." nodded Sakura.

Tsunade pounded her fist on the deck.

"Not again!" exclaimed the Sannin.

"Yes...again..." murmured Gray.

Once again, she was tempted to send Jiraiya...

...but he was her trump card. She didn't want to play him yet.

Inari began to sniffle.

"It's alright...we'll find you a new home. We always have room for another ninja..." answered Tsunade.

Inari wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"Maybe I'll introduce you to Konohamaru...he happens to remind me of you a bit..." noted the Sannin.

"Whose Konohamaru?" asked Inari, raising an eyebrow.

"The grandson of our late Third Hokage..." explained Tsunade.

"So...he lost his grandfather too, then?" inquired the boy.

"Yes...he did." nodded the Sannin.

Immediately, she pointed to the gravestone not too far from her office.

Inari frowned.

"I might be able to relate to him then." acknowledged the orphan.

"You can probably relate to me too...since you've lost both of your parents." noted Naruto.

"Yeah..." agreed Inari.

"Let me know if you need anything." answered the chunin.

"I will." nodded the boy.

"I...don't think I'm going to go on a mission for a while..." spoke Sakura.

"Me neither..." agreed Gray.

"Make that three." nodded Juvia.

"I'm heading back to my apartment." said Lucy.

Immediately, the five of them left Tsunade's office.

On the way there, Naruto happened to bump into Jiraiya.

"Hey there...do you want to do some training?" asked the toad Sannin.

"Not today..." answered Naruto.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. Naruto seemed really upset about something.

Sighing, he decided to work on his novels for the time being.

Maybe he should include Naruto in one of his novels? Then again, he wasn't eighteen yet...he was still sixteen...so that might not be such a good idea.

"Why exactly is he so upset?" inquired Jiraiya.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, you've got seven dwarves, huh? I guess this makes things seven times as enjoyable for me." noted Chiyoye.

Casting a lightning spell, the seven dwarves began to scatter like dominoes.

In retaliation, they began to gather together again.

Curious, she noticed that they appeared to be building a tank.

"What's this?" inquired the sorceress.

Immediately, the tank shot a cannonball at Chiyoye, destroying her undead pegasus mount.

"So...you destroyed my mount...big deal! I can already fly without it." said the sorceress.

Of course, the tank was focusing on Chiyoye now, hoping to shoot her down.

"Hmm...that tank looks rather strong...maybe I should call for backup." she thought.

Immediately, she began to summon some of her undead forces to attack the tank.

Unfortunately for Chiyoye, the tank simply ran them over.

"Well then...I guess it's time to try something different." acknowledged the sorceress.

In retaliation, she activated the first stage of the cursed seal that Kimimaro had provided her.

"That's better! Now I can do this!" she exclaimed.

"What happened to her?" asked Professor Fumbledore. He had not seen that particular spell throughout his long career as a mage.

Scanning her using a detection spell, he discovered that she was pumping something other than mana throughout her body.

He wasn't quite sure what this mysterious energy source was...all he knew was that it was making her much stronger.

Using the first stage of the Cursed Seal Of Heaven, she was able to summon all of the Sound Four's personal summons at once.

Immediately, the Obsidian Golem, Kyodaigumo, the Doki, and the Rashomon Gate surrounded the dwarf tank.

Unfortunately for the seven dwarves, they were not a match for this many summons. In fact, they were pulverized, and their tank exploded.

Chiyoye laughed as she heard them all scream in unison.

"That's music to my ears!" exclaimed the sorceress.

Professor Fumbledore glared at Chiyoye with disgust. Even when she was still his student she was fairly sadistic.

He in fact had seen her cast a few spells on the students...which of course was only a sign of what was to come.

_Professor Fumbledore gasped in shock. His students were all lying dead on their desks._

_Someone had clearly murdered them._

_Curious, he noticed that there was a sticky note on his desk._

_Immediately, he read it, and gasped in shock once again._

_It was from Chiyoye Headstone._

_"Hello Professor Fumbledore. In case it's not obvious, I was the one that killed your students. Why do you ask? They had powers I wanted...so I drained the life out of them! It was simple as that! Now if you excuse me I'm off to join a dark guild..." read Professor Fumbledore._

_What had he done?_

_Professor Fumbledore collapsed on the ground in a heap._

Once again, he was rather perplexed by Chiyoye's summons. He had not seen anything like them in his entire lifetime.

He somehow got the feeling that they were from a different world entirely.

Chiyoye instructed the summons to attack Professor Fumbledore next. Fortunately, he had been paying attention and teleported out of the way.

"Are you trying to hide from me now? Personally I never imagined that you would run away from your past." taunted Chiyoye.

Immediately, she sent her obsidian golem to search for the wizard. It began to search for him, looking underneath several different objects.

"I really suggest that you don't try to hide. I've got four pairs of eyes alone with my spider summon!" exclaimed the sorceress.

Suddenly, Kyodaigumo began to lay an egg. It looked like she was about to give birth.

"Make that at least a dozen..." murmured Chiyoye.

Sure enough, the egg hatched, and dozen of spiders emerged from it, much to her delight.

Professor Fumbledore sighed. Chiyoye was right. There didn't seem to be much use hiding from her. Sooner or later she was going to find him...as she had indicated a few seconds ago.

He was starting to see how she managed to get so many victims.

Granted, he had some powerful illusionary techniques...but he wasn't sure that they would affect Chiyoye's summons the way they would effect a human.

Using a fire spell, he was able to burn away the spiders approaching him...but more kept on coming.

In retaliation, he began to summon some bats to attack the spiders.

Sure enough, they were doing the job well. They were swallowing them in their mouths and were enjoying the meal.

However, he ended up being grabbed by the obsidian golem shortly afterwards.

"Aargh!" exclaimed Professor Fumbledore.

"Now I have you! Just admit that I've surpassed you after all this time...you're powerless against me!" bellowed Chiyoye.

However, her former teacher was able to summon a frost giant to attack the obsidian golem, forcing it to let go so that it could wrestle with him.

"I'll crush you!" bellowed the frost giant.

Chiyoye sighed. For a moment, she thought that she had won.

No matter. She still had more summons where that came from.

"Kyodaigumo!" bellowed the sorceress.

Immediately, Kyodaigumo lunged towards Professor Fumbledore, hoping to poison him.

However, he quickly retaliated by summoning a giant bat.

"Well...it looks she's occupied too. So many summons...Doki!" exclaimed Chiyoye.

The Doki Trio began to stomp towards Professor Fumbledore. Pulling out their clubs, they prepared to crush him into dust.

"How many summons does she have?" inquired the former teacher. First a golem...then a giant spider...and now a doki. There didn't seem to be any real pattern.

Sighing, he summoned three elf archers to keep them busy. Pulling out their arrows, they began to shoot at the Doki while trying to keep their distance from them.

Rather than resume attacking Professor Fumbledore, the Doki tried attacking the elf archers instead. As they were rather agile, they were having a hard time hitting them.

"What a stalemate..." remarked Chiyoye. At this rate she was going to be unable to get any headway over her former teacher.

Suddenly, she noticed that Professor Fumbledore was charging up for a powerful spell.

Gasping, she immediately hid behind the Rashomon gate. Something told her that she didn't want to get hit by that spell.

The Rashomon withstood the blast...but in the process, it was destroyed completely. It would take some time before she could summon it again.

Professor Fumbledore teleported towards her a few minutes later.

Realizing that he was going to be a difficult opponent, Chiyoye realized what to do next.

"Well then...I guess it's time for me to go full power..." acknowledged the sorceress.

Activating the second stage of Kimimaro's cursed seal, her hair turned white and so did her skin.

Professor Fumbledore gasped in shock at his former pupil's sudden and horrifying transformation.

"Chiyoye?! What's happened to you?!" exclaimed the professor in astonishment.

"Let's just say I got a little makeover." answered the transformed sorceress.

Feeling terrified of Chiyoye's new appearance, Professor Fumbledore decided he needed to stop her more than ever.

Unfortunately for Professor Fumbledore, it appeared that activating the second stage of her seal had given her summons strength, and they were slowly overpowering his.

He needed to end this battle quickly.

Once again, Professor Fumbledore began to charge up a spell...

...but this time, Chiyoye was able to counter with one of her own.

"Let's see who wins this now, shall we?" inquired the sorceress.

"For the sake of Fiore...I have to stop you!" bellowed the professor.

"I'd like to see you try." answered Chiyoye.

Suddenly, a zombie hand sprouted from the ground and attempted to grab onto Professor Fumbledore.

He immediately jumped out of the way...

...only to end up being grabbed by another zombie hand.

"Wouldn't you know it...I can summon both hands now..." noted the sorceress.

Casting a sealing spell, Professor Fumbledore found himself unable to teleport away.

In the process of being grabbed, he ended up dropping his staff.

Immediately, he realized what a bad situation he was in.

"Oh no..." thought the professor.

"So much for me just being your pupil...if anything I should have been the one teaching you!" remarked Chiyoye.

At this point, Professor Fumbledore wondered if he should try reasoning with the sorceress rather than simply trying to kill her.

"Chiyoye...please...you don't have to use your powers for evil!" exclaimed Professor Fumbledore.

"I know, I know...you told me again and again...just because I'm a necromanceress I didn't have to be evil!" bellowed Chiyoye.

"I shouldn't have to keep reminding you then." noted the mage.

"You know...maybe you're right." acknowledged the sorceress.

Professor Fumbledore began to smile. Maybe he had successfully reached out to her.

Facing away from the professor, Chiyoye began to walk away from him.

"Maybe I shouldn't have slaughtered my hometown. Maybe I shouldn't have killed your students. Maybe I shouldn't have killed my parents. Maybe I shouldn't have betrayed Fairy Tail..." remarked the sorceress.

Professor Fumbledore let out a sigh of relief. It looked like she was finally showing remorse for her crimes.

Hopefully, she would be allowed to repent for them...though personally he wondered if anyone would forgive her for all the terrible things she had done. She did murder her own parents, after all.

"Or maybe..." said the sorceress.

Immediately, she turned towards him, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"...you've forgotten who I am!" bellowed Chiyoye.

Snapping her fingers, Chiyoye immediately crushed her teacher in the zombie hand keeping him prisoner, killing him instantly.

"Chiyoye...why?" whispered Professor Fumbledore as he died.

She cackled in delight shortly afterwards. Her teacher had died with his eyes wide open and his jaw dropped in shock. It was an image that she was going to savor.

Curious, she noticed her summons returning to her. Apparently, they had succeeded in slaying the rest of his summons as well.

Dismissing the zombie hands and her summons, Chiyoye then began to siphon her former teacher's life force.

Unfortunately, due to how old he was, she was unable to draw much life force from him.

"That's a disappointment." remarked the sorceress.

Immediately, she began to wonder if he had anticipated her trying to do so, and had deliberately waited until he became old so that she wouldn't inherit much of his power.

"I guess he's smarter than I thought..." noted Chiyoye.

Likewise, she decided to deactivate her cursed seal as well, causing her hair to turn black again and for her skin to return to its natural hue.

"That's better..." said the sorceress.

Shrugging, she decided that it wasn't a big deal that she wasn't able to drain her former teacher effectively. Though it was rather disappointing, she did get to drain the life out of everyone in Mana City.

"I guess I'll just have to look for another powerful wizard t-"

Suddenly, she noticed her former teacher's staff lying down on the ground, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

Examining it, she noticed that it was made of mahogany, and had a blue jewel attached to the top of it.

"So that's how he was able to cast those powerful spells." noted Chiyoye.

Immediately, she began to flashback.

_"Chiyoye, since you are my best student, I want you to have my staff." spoke Professor Fumbledore._

_"Your staff?" asked Chiyoye._

_"As soon as I retire, I want you to have this. I use it to cast my most powerful spells." explained her teacher._

_"So that's how you can use your magic..." explained the dark mage._

_"Well, I can use magic without my staff...but it's certainly a big help." noted Professor Fumbledore._

_"I see..." answered Chiyoye._

_Personally, she wasn't planning on waiting for her teacher to retire...she was just planning on waiting until he had taught her everything that he knew. He always did teach her so much so quickly._

_Perhaps she could try putting some poison into his drink while he wasn't watching? That seemed as good of an idea as any._

_Then again, she'd probably have to drink the poison herself in order to avoid suspicion...unless she wanted to come up with a different plan._

_"Hmm..." she thought._

_"Well, that's it for today. You can go back to see your parents again now." spoke Professor Fumbledore._

_"My...parents." murmured Chiyoye._

_Suddenly, she got an idea._

_"I'll...see you later." said the sorceress._

Chiyoye began to laugh. This was so wonderfully ironic.

Even though Professor Fumbledore had tried to stop her, he had ended up helping her instead. Not only that, but he was being forced to give up the staff that he had once wanted her to have once he retired from being a spellcaster.

Immediately, she picked up the staff.

A few seconds later, the mahogany it was composed of turned black, and the crystal that was being used to focus its power turned purple.

"That's more like it!" exclaimed Chiyoye.

Curious, she noticed that there was a statue of Professor Fumbledore nearby. By the looks of it, the citizens of Mana City happened to admire him.

Smiling, Chiyoye decided that it would be as good of a target for her staff as any.

Focusing the mana in the staff, she immediately destroyed the statue in a single blast.

"Huh...this isn't too bad." noted the sorceress. She was starting to see why her former mentor carried it with him all the time.

Immediately, she began to wonder if she should use it against Naruto and Erza. It seemed like an excellent weapon judging from what her former teacher could do with it.

"It seems as good of a weapon to use against them as any..." said Chiyoye.

She had to admit...it was a long time since she had last encountered them.

Apparently, it was time for her to hunt them down. Granted, she hadn't been able to face them too well last time...but this time, things were going to be different. She just knew it.

"Where are they now?" inquired the sorceress.

Of course, she couldn't simply barge into the Fairy Tail guild and attack them now...after all, Fairy Tail now considered her to be an outlaw.

If she tried that, she would inevitably get arrested...or worse.

That clearly wasn't an option.

So...it looked like she was simply going to have to play the waiting game.

"I'll just wait for an opportunity to present itself..." she thought.

Shrugging, she decided to sit on a chair and use a crystal ball to spy on Naruto and Erza.

Sure enough, they happened to be rather safe...the former happened to be in the world of ninja...which she desired to visit.

"Too bad I can't use Fairy Tail's interdimensional portal..." noted Chiyoye. No doubt it would be heavily guarded...and she still wasn't strong enough to take on the entire guild.

Personally she didn't have to wait for an opportunity to absorb Naruto and Erza though. She actually found spying on people to be very interesting.

Besides, if an opportunity didn't start knocking on her door...she could always try looking for someone else.

She wanted to repay Erza for the stab wound she had given her though...it really hurt. She was also looking forward to hear Naruto scream again.

"Well, I'll keep an eye on this..." said Chiyoye.

_Meanwhile..._

Speaking of crystal balls, Levy noticed something that concerned her.

"What is it?" asked Elfman.

"The mana in the crystal ball has turned yellow..." explained the letter mage.

"That's not good..." answered the S-Class candidate.

Sure enough, Levy's shadow had a wide frown on her face. She knew what this meant as much as her mistress did.

"She must have received another power boost..." she acknowledged.

"Who did she kill this time?" inquired Elfman.

"Well, Makarov did mention something about sending her old mentor to deal with her..." explained Levy.

"She killed her own teacher?!" bellowed the beast mage.

"Apparently." nodded the bookworm. There just didn't seem to be an act that Chiyoye would not commit.

Curious, Makarov entered the room, and began to frown.

He let out a sigh.

"I was hoping that he could be my friend...but now he's dead. It's a shame...he seemed like a decent person." murmured the guildmaster.

Levy's shadow began to cry.

"I'm sorry." sympathized Levy.

"It's not your fault...you kept your eye on the crystal ball like I told you to, after all. Though I will admit that it is alarming that she's growing in strength once again." answered Makarov.

"What do you think she's up to now?" asked Elfman.

"I'm starting to wonder if she's going to hunt down Naruto and Erza again. They were the first ones openly revealed her true self to...and I think that she might have a grudge against them." questioned the guildmaster.

"Shouldn't they be safe here? I doubt Chiyoye can take on our entire guild alone...though I will admit that she's a lot stronger than we last saw her..." inquired Levy.

"Not necessarily...no doubt she's looking for an opportunity to kill and absorb them. If they end up alone, they're fair game." noted Makarov.

"You're right...they may be in danger." answered the letter mage.

"We might want to ask them not to stray too far from us..." questioned Elfman.

Levy nodded. The closer they were to them, the better.

"Anyways...I was thinking about heading to a casino so that we can...party..." said Makarov.

"How come?" inquired the letter mage.

"I feel like everyone needs some cheering up." explained the guildmaster.

"That's awfully generous of you!" exclaimed Elfman.

"I know..." nodded Makarov.

Immediately, he contacted Naruto on his pager.

"A...party? Um, sure." answered the chunin.

Naruto went to fetch his tuxedo...hoping that he wouldn't end up ripping it in the process.

It was only a matter of time before he suffered clothing damage again.

Likewise, he went to fetch his friends as well.

"A party? That does sound nice...but you seem upset about something." answered Hinata.

"Our last mission didn't go so well...everybody in the Land Of Waves died..." explained Naruto.

"I see..." nodded the kunoichi.

Naruto began to cry, so Hinata placed her hand on his shoulder in order to comfort him.

She succeeded.

"Thank you...I really needed that." said the chunin.

"You're welcome...that must have been terrible." answered Hinata.

"We did manage to kill two of Kenichi's clones though, so at least that's something." spoke Naruto.

"Did you already encounter one before?" asked the fire dragonslayer.

"I think Lucy did." answered the chunin.

"Did she make it out in one piece?" inquired Hinata.

"I think so." nodded Naruto.

Hinata let out a sigh of relief.

"I'll go get my dress." said the kunoichi.

Fortunately, since she was well-off, getting a dress was rather easy for her.

She came back a few minutes later.

"How do I look?" asked Hinata.

Unsurprisingly, she was wearing a sundress...that happened to have a picture of the sun on it.

"I think you're living up to your name..." noted Naruto.

"Heh heh. Yeah." giggled the kunoichi.

Next up was Sakura.

"Hey, Sakura! We're going to a party...are you interested?" asked the chunin.

"Oh, a party...sure." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, she began to strip down.

"Sakura..." warned Hinata.

"Huh? Oh right...I should probably do that once I'm in the dressing room..." noted Sakura.

"Yeah..." agreed the fire kunoichi.

Immediately, she went to the dressing room.

She came back wearing a strapless pink dress a few minutes later.

"What do you think?" asked the kunoichi.

Naruto and Hinata applauded.

"Alright then." nodded Sakura.

Next, they went to fetch Shikamaru...as well as Choji and Ino. The former was relaxing on a chair and the latter were having some chicken wings with barbecue sauce.

"Why do you two keep eating?" asked the shadow ninja.

"Why do you keep sleeping?" inquired Ino.

Sure enough, Ino and Choji were both eating rather heavily.

"I'm not sure how the former remains so skinny..." thought Shikamaru.

"I just can't get enough of this!" exclaimed Ino.

"Me neither!" bellowed Choji.

It was a mystery to everyone in Konoha.

Immediately, Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura went up to them.

"Hey there! Do you want to attend a party?" asked Naruto.

"A party? Sure." nodded Shikamaru.

Ino and Choji nodded as well.

"Will there be food?" asked Choji.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Hinata.

Choji began to smile.

Curious, they noticed that Sai was nearby.

Naruto had to admit...he hadn't seen him in a while. When was the last time they had done a mission together?

Granted, he had done a mission with Sakura recently...but not with him. Had he forgotten that he had existed?

Shrugging, he decided to invite him to the party as well. It was the least that he could do.

"Do you want to go to a party, Sai?" asked Naruto.

"Sorry...I'm busy." apologized Sai.

"Alright then." nodded the chunin. It'd be nice if he could use the interdimensional portal with them sometime. He had a lot to show him.

"I'll let you know if I have time on my hands..." alerted Sasuke's replacement.

Kimimaro happened to be nearby as well.

"Do you want to go to a party?" asked Sakura.

"Sure, why not." answered Kimimaro. "I'll just wear my usual outfit..."

"Alright then." nodded Naruto.

Immediately, the seven of them entered the interdimensional portal.

"Here we go!" exclaimed the boy.

Hopefully, they would have fun at the party...even if Naruto and Sakura didn't have any fun on their mission.

_Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Do you feel sorry for Professor Fumbledore? If so, I don't blame you. I bet you probably want to strangle Chiyoye right about now._

_In the next chapter, there's going to be a party at the casino...and well, you probably know which Fairy Tail arc I'm spoofing._

_Peace!_


	39. Chapter 39: Erza's Past

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter, Naruto and his friends are going to visit a casino...but things are going to go wrong. Why do you ask? Well...let's just say that Erza's past is going to haunt her._

_Yes, that's right...we're spoofing the Tower Of Heaven Arc! I already did this with Phantom Lord, I know..._

**Chapter 39: Erza's Past**

Naruto played poker at the casino, though he was still a bit depressed. Granted, it was rather nice that they got to visit the Akane Resort, but he couldn't quite get the Land Of Waves out of his head.

All of a sudden, he knew exactly why Kenichi needed to be stopped.

"Royal flush!" exclaimed Cana.

"Darn it! You must be cheating!" bellowed Gray.

"Maybe I am...heh heh..." answered the card mage.

"Are you really cheating?" asked Droy.

"What? No no no. I was only kidding." answered Cana.

"You wouldn't do that to me...right?" asked the plant mage.

"No no no. I wouldn't." nodded the card mage.

Droy let out a sigh of relief.

"Congratulations...Cana...looks like you're rich." answered Naruto.

Immediately, Cana moved the pile of poker tokens towards her.

"I'm going to spend it all on beer!" exclaimed the alcohol lover.

"Shouldn't you be spending it in moderation?" asked Droy.

"You're right...why don't you spend some of this on food?" inquired Cana.

Immediately, Cana handed it to Droy.

"Huh? Thanks." answered the plant mage.

"I do admit...there's a lot of food here." noted Cana.

"Yeah..." agreed Droy.

"I'm actually tempted to eat some myself...then again I might get fat." answered the plant mage.

"You'll get along mightily well with Droy then." noted Gajeel.

"Gajeel!" exclaimed Cana.

Droy began to blush.

"I only got a regular flush..." noted Naruto.

"That's too bad." answered Droy.

Naruto began to sigh.

"Is something the matter?" asked Cana.

"It's the mission I went on...a madman came along and murdered people I knew personally..." answered the chunin.

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Droy.

"I know. And to think I thought he was simply a myth and a legend. Turns out he's real and that everything he did in all those stories were true." noted Naruto.

"So...he's the Chiyoye Headstone of your world then?" inquired Cana.

"Yeah, pretty much." answered the chunin.

"I don't want to run into either of them..." noted Droy.

"Nobody at this casino does." said Naruto.

"Even I feel wary about those two now that I think of it...imagine all the people that they've killed by now." murmured Gajeel.

Droy began to feel very nervous, considering the fact that he was still a bit afraid of Gajeel after he beat him up.

"Yes...and the number's still growing." acknowledged the chunin.

"How many people have they killed? A hundred? A thousand? A million?" inquired Cana.

"I hope that they haven't killed a million people yet...but I'd say they've really gone to town as of late." noted Naruto.

Cana let out a sigh.

"When will the bloodshed end?" questioned Droy.

"Hopefully we can become strong enough to stop them...then again, we'd need to hunt them down first." acknowledged Naruto.

"Right..." nodded Gajeel.

At that very moment, Lucy walked up to them.

"Hey there! Are you playing poker?" asked the teenage girl.

"Yes...do you want to play strip poker?" inquired Cana.

**"Please say yes, please say yes!" **exclaimed Kurama.

Lucy and Naruto began to blush.

"I only want to play strip poker with Sakura...then again I'd bet she and Gray would excel at it." explained Gajeel.

"Do you now?" asked Naruto.

This time, it was Gajeel's turn to blush.

"Never mind." answered the iron dragonslayer.

"Well, it was nice playing with you guys. I wonder where Erza is?" inquired the chunin.

"I think she's trying out her new dress." explained Lucy.

"Her new dress?" inquired Droy.

"Yeah...she just went to the clothing store." spoke Cana.

Curious, Naruto began to look around...and discovered that Erza was nearby.

"Erza! Look at you!" exclaimed the chunin.

"Hey there, Naruto." said Erza.

Sure enough, Erza was wearing a red and purple dress and high heels to go with it.

"You look beautiful!" exclaimed Naruto.

Erza began to blush.

"Aren't you a little flatterer..." answered Erza.

"Thank you...but I'm not little." contradicted the chunin.

"Sorry if I offended you by calling you small...you are a head shorter than I am though." noted the knight.

"Well, that's true..." admitted Naruto.

"So...do you want to dress up? I noticed that you're still wearing your orange jumpsuit..." acknowledged Erza.

"My orange jumpsuit? Oh, that's right...wouldn't want people to tell that I'm an escaped fugitive." noted the chunin.

"It's no fun at wizard jail." agreed the knight.

Immediately, Naruto went to the men's dressing room.

"If you want you can use the women's dressing room...I wouldn't mind getting dressed with you." answered Erza.

Naruto began to blush.

"Are you sure about that?" asked the chunin.

"Well, I suppose you don't have to do that if you don't want to..." noted Erza.

"I'm...still a bit hesistant to do that." answered Naruto.

"Take your time then." said the knight.

Naruto entered the boys' dressing room and came out wearing a tuxedo.

"How do I look?" asked the chunin.

"Like a million bucks." answered Erza.

Naruto once again began to blush.

"And once again your cheeks have turned red around me." noted the knight.

Naruto began to chuckle nervously.

"Er, yeah..." nodded the chunin.

"So...are there any games you would like to play?" inquired Erza.

"Maybe a game of blackjack?" asked Naruto.

"A game of blackjack, you say...sure, why not." answered the knight.

"Alright!" exclaimed the chunin.

Immediately, the duo sat down and began to play the game.

"Let's see now...I've got a fifteen." answered Naruto.

"I've got a seventeen." said Erza.

"Darn it!" bellowed the chunin.

Immediately, Naruto handed Erza some jewels.

"Thanks." spoke the knight.

Elsewhere, Shikamaru was taking a snooze.

"Zzz..." murmured the shadow ninja.

"Shikamaru, don't you want to play bingo with us?" asked Choji.

"I think one of us is going to win this time..." said Ino.

"Just let me rest my eyes for a minute..." spoke Shikamaru.

"Um, sure..." nodded Choji.

Immediately, Shikamaru woke up, yawning in the process.

"This is quite the vacation, huh?" asked the shadow ninja.

"It sure is!" exclaimed Choji.

"It's not every day we get to visit a casino like this." noted Shikamaru.

"That's true." nodded Ino.

"So, this is the Akane Resort, huh?" asked Choji.

"It looks that way." answered the shadow ninja.

"I wonder if the guildmaster will take us here again..." noted the Akimichi ninja.

"It's a possibility." acknowledged Ino.

"If so, I'm looking forward to it!" exclaimed Choji.

"Me too." nodded Shikamaru.

Sure enough, Makarov was playing bingo as well.

"Please say 13, please say 13!" exclaimed the guildmaster.

"We've got a seven here!" bellowed the lady in charge of the bingo game.

"Bingo!" shouted Ino.

"Darn it! I was hoping that I could win!" complained Juvia.

Makarov groaned. He was hoping that he could win too. Then again, there were some games that you lost, and some games that you won.

"Congratulations, Ino Yamanaka. Here is your prize." answered the lady.

Immediately, the lady handed Ino some prize tokens.

"Yes!" exclaimed Ino.

"What should we spend it on?" asked Choji.

Ino shrugged.

"You want to relax at the beach? I'll be wearing my purple bikini top..." explained the kunoichi.

Choji began to giggle.

"I'll be wearing my swim trunks." answered the Akimichi member.

This time, it was Ino's turn to giggle.

Immediately, they walked outside the resort building.

"Maybe I should get a suntan..." noted Shikamaru.

Sure enough, Kimimaro was already outside the resort building,

"This beach sure is nice." noted the bone ninja.

Nearby, Hinata and Natsu were in their swimsuits, splashing each other in water.

"So...are you two having fun?" asked Kimimaro.

"Yes, we are." nodded Natsu.

"Never better!" exclaimed Hinata.

"That's nice." answered the bone ninja.

Personally, he found it in a bit ironic that two fire dragonslayers were playing in water together. Then again, water wasn't harmful to them in itself.

He was a bit surprised that Juvia wasn't playing in the water. Then again, she happened to be indoors at the moment.

Maybe she would stop by later? Then again, she'd most likely want to bring Gray with her. They would have so much fun at the beach.

At the casino, Sakura noticed that Gajeel and his friends were playing poker.

"So, are you playing poker?" inquired Sakura.

Droy nodded.

"Oddly enough Gajeel suggested that you play strip poker with him..." acknowledged Cana.

Sakura began to glare at Gajeel.

She then cracked her knuckles.

"It's clobbering time!" exclaimed the kunoichi, taking off her shirt and leaving herself in her sarashi.

"Here we go again." said Droy, recalling how this had already happened once before.

Immediately, Sakura picked up the table and began to fling it in Gajeel, who immediately latched onto it.

"Darn it! I was about to win!" exclaimed Droy.

"We're fighting again? Perfect!" bellowed Gajeel.

Tossing the table aside (which resulted in it smashing to pieces), Gajeel hit Sakura with an Iron Dragon's Roar.

"Oof!" bellowed Sakura.

In retaliation, she began to toss icicles at Gajeel, one of which cut him in the cheek.

"I always did like a challenge..." noted Gajeel.

"If it's a challenge you want, it's a challenge you shall get!" exclaimed Sakura.

Immediately, Sakura pulled out an ice sword.

In retaliation, Gajeel turned his arm into a club.

This naturally resulted in a swordfight.

At that very moment, Levy arrived on the scene.

"What's going on?" asked Levy.

"Gajeel and Sakura are fighting again." answered Cana.

"I bet fifty jewels on Gajeel!" exclaimed the bookworm.

"I'll bet fifty jewels on Sakura then." said the card mage.

"I have to admit...Sakura is so sexy in her sarashi..." murmured Gajeel.

"What?" asked Sakura.

"Never mind." answered the iron dragonslayer sheepishly.

Unable to gain an advantage over each other in a swordfight, Sakura and Gajeel resorted to pummeling each other with their fists instead.

"Sakura may be a girl...but she hits like a man." thought Gajeel.

"Lady Tsunade said I was a boxing champion!" exclaimed Sakura.

"I can see that..." answered the former member of Phantom Lord.

"I wonder if Natsu and I are going to get into a fight like this..." noted Gray.

"Well, you are her interdimensional partner." acknowledged Levy.

"That's true." nodded the ice mage.

Immediately, Sakura grabbed onto Gajeel and lifted him up by the shirt.

"Looks like I win this time." remarked Sakura.

Suddenly, she ended up ripping off Gajeel's shirt.

"Now I know how Naruto feels..." thought the iron dragonslayer.

Curious, he noticed that Sakura appeared to be staring at his bare chest.

"What? My eyes are up here!" asked Gajeel.

"Whoops! I guess I'm being a bit of a hypocrite today..." noted the kunoichi.

The former member of Phantom Lord began to snicker.

This time, the duo began to wrestle each other to the ground.

"What a wrestling match..." noted Gray.

"I know..." agreed Levy.

At this point, the battle had escalated to an enormous ball of cartoon violence.

"Would you look at that..." spoke Cana.

"Darn it! Now we can't see what's going on!" exclaimed Levy.

"I'm going to pulverize you!" bellowed Sakura.

"Not if I pulverize you first!" shouted Gajeel.

"I wonder whose going to be the victor?" asked Gray.

Droy shrugged.

Curious, they noticed that the dust was beginning to disappear.

"C'mon! I want to see who wins!" exclaimed Cana.

"Me too!" agreed Levy.

When the smoke settled...

...Sakura and Gajeel were on top of each other, kissing each other on the lips.

Blushing furiously, both of them began to detach from each other.

"How did that happen?" asked Gajeel.

"I don't know..." answered Sakura.

"Well, that was a good fight! Let's do this again sometime!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

"Um, sure..." nodded the kunoichi.

Immediately, Sakura and Gajeel shook each other's hands.

They then began to walk away.

"I don't get it...who won the fight?" asked Gray.

"I can't tell..." answered Droy.

"Well, I guess neither of us are getting jewels then." noted Cana.

Levy shrugged. At least it was an entertaining fight to watch.

"Well, I suppose we might as well find another table..." acknowledged Gray.

"Wait...how many tokens did we have?" asked Levy.

"I honestly don't remember..." answered Droy.

"Darn it! Now we're going to have to start over!" pouted Cana.

"I'm afraid so..." nodded the ice mage.

Shrugging, they decided they might as well gather up their cards.

Meanwhile, Erza was beginning to feel rather sleepy.

"Well, that was a good game. I'm going to take a good nap." answered the knight.

"I'll see you later then!" exclaimed Naruto.

As it turned out, there was a bed nearby.

Immediately, Erza went to sleep.

"Erza's so cute when she's sleeping..." thought the chunin.

Suddenly, he noticed that Erza was tossing and turning.

"Hmm? Is she having a nightmare?" asked Naruto.

As it turned out...yes, she was.

_Erza was stuck building a tower. She had been enslaved by a very nasty man...who wanted to build a tower to the moon!_

_Well, maybe not the moon._

_"Work faster!" exclaimed a nearby slavedriver with a beard._

_"But this is so hard..." complained Erza. Why couldn't she have a break every once in a while? Was that really too much to ask?_

_Feeling that Erza wasn't meeting her enormous quota, the slavedriver attacked her with his whip._

_"Ouch!" exclaimed the would-be S-Class mage._

_"What did I say?" asked the slavedriver._

_"Alright! I'll keep working!" bellowed Erza._

_"You'd better." answered the cruel man._

_"It's OK Erza...I'm sure that we'll get out of here eventually..." said her old friend, Jellal._

_"But they've got an electric fence...if we try to climb over it, we'll get zapped." pointed out Erza._

_"Well, I'm sure we'll find a way around it eventually." answered the boy._

_"Are you plotting an escape attempt?!" bellowed the slavedriver._

_"No no no. It's just wishful thinking, that's all!" exclaimed Jellal._

_"You had better keep it that way." answered the man._

_"One of these days I would like to strike him with that whip..." thought Erza._

Curious, Naruto began to wake Erza up.

"Wake up!" bellowed Naruto.

"Huh? What?" asked Erza.

"I think you were having a nightmare..." answered the chunin.

"Um...yeah..." nodded the knight.

"Do you remember what it was about?" inquired Naruto.

"It was...about my past." spoke Erza.

"Your past?" asked the chunin.

Erza let out a sigh.

"You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to...I was just curious." answered the former jinchuriki.

"Well, I might as well tell you now...you see...I used to be a slave." spoke the redhead.

"A slave?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah...I got kidnapped and forced to build a tower...a tower that can be used to resurrect the dead..." explained Erza.

"A tower that can resurrect the dead? Sounds like Chiyoye Headstone..." noted the chunin.

"Well, in order to resurrect the dead, they needed a sacrifice...so yeah." answered the knight.

"I see." nodded Naruto.

"Eventually, I decided to take my chances and tried to leave the tower...but unfortunately I ended up getting caught. They cut my eye out and told me that if I ever tried escaping again, they'd beat me so hard that I wouldn't be able to walk." noted the knight.

"Ironically, that's what I want to do to them right about now..." remarked Naruto.

"If it makes you feel any better...the man that cut my eye out got stoned to death by the slaves shortly afterward...nobody mourned his passing so none of the slaves got penalized for it." explained Erza.

"They didn't?" asked the chunin.

"Well, Jellal got punched in the face...I cried for a few minutes." answered the knight.

"Whose Jellal?" inquired Naruto.

"An old friend of mine...who unfortunately got brainwashed." explained Erza.

"He got brainwashed?" asked the chunin.

"They got the feeling that he was plotting an enormous slave revolt...so they brainwashed him to be completely and utterly obedient." answered the S-Class Mage.

"That's sad..." remarked Naruto.

"On the plus side, I managed to escape shortly afterwards...I didn't have a home since my parents were killed by the slavers...so I decided to join Fairy Tail." explained Erza.

"I happen to be an orphan too..." answered the chunin.

"You are?" asked the knight.

"Yeah...my parents sacrificed themselves to seal the nine-tailed fox inside of me..." said the former jinchuriki.

"I'm so sorry." sympathized the S-Class Mage.

"Personally I'm glad that I didn't have to do the same in order to seal the nine-tailed fox inside of Lucy...and that she's happy to be a jinchuriki." noted Naruto.

"That was a relief, wasn't it?" asked Erza.

"Yeah...back when I was still a jinchuriki, people wouldn't give me the time of day. They thought I was a bloodthirsty monster or something. Of course, there were a few exceptions...but other than that, they kept away from me." explained the chunin.

"That's sad." remarked the Requip mage. Now that she thought of it...their backstories were rather similar.

"Yeah...I started pulling off pranks in order to get people's attention...so I got into trouble a lot." noted Naruto.

Erza began to giggle.

"Of course, now that you think of it...you probably wouldn't like it if I tried pulling off pranks on your guildmates. I heard that you were rather strict." acknowledged the chunin.

"It's true...I wouldn't. After hearing your backstory though...I probably wouldn't mind too much." noted the S-Class mage.

This time, it was Naruto's turn to giggle.

"So, um...let me know if you need anything." answered the chunin.

"Alright...I'll let you know. Let me know if you need anything too." said Erza.

"Alright then." nodded Naruto.

Once again, Erza back to sleep. This time, she was sleeping much more soundly.

"Looks like my job is done." thought the chunin.

Immediately, he left to go look for his friends.

Sure enough, he bumped into Lucy.

"Hey there!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Hi!" greeted Lucy.

"So, how's your nine-tailed fox doing?" asked the chunin.

"Pretty good. He's mostly keeping to himself. At the moment he's asleep." answered the kunoichi.

**"Zzz..." **murmured Kurama in his sleep.

"I hope you're enjoying the present I gave you!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Yes, I am. It's like having a friend that never goes away. How about you?" inquired Lucy.

"I sure am! I just love being a Celestial Mage! I have loads of friends that never go away!" bellowed the chunin.

Considering that he was friendless back when he was a young boy, he was very glad about the change of events.

"That's good." nodded the current jinchuriki of Kurama.

Suddenly, Kurama began to yawn.

"Well, would you look at that. It looks like he's waking up." answered Lucy.

Immediately, Kurama noticed his former host body.

**"Well, would you look at that...if it isn't for my former host...I am so glad to be out of his body." **noted the nine-tailed fox.

"You had places you wanted to visit, right?" asked the kunoichi.

**"Your world intrigues me...so yes." **answered Kurama.

"Glad you're enjoying your vacation..." noted Lucy.

**"I am...admittedly." **said the nine-tailed fox.

"So...you're having a chat with Kurama?" asked Naruto.

"As I said, it's like having a buddy that never goes away." answered the kunoichi.

**"I am not your buddy, and I never will!" **exclaimed Kurama.

"Search your feelings. You know it to be true." said Lucy.

Kurama groaned.

Naruto began to laugh.

"I'll see you later then." spoke Naruto.

**"Good riddance." **answered Kurama.

"Don't talk to him like that!" demanded Lucy.

Kurama grumbled.

Naruto immediately left to go eat some delicious ramen.

Suddenly, Lucy noticed Shikamaru.

"Hey there! How are you doing?" asked Lucy.

"Doing fine. You?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Pretty good. I'm hoping that Kurama will lend me his power someday. I might have a chance against Kenichi if he gives me enough." noted the kunoichi.

**"Don't even mention that name." **spoke Kurama.

"I'm not exactly fond of him either." acknowledged Lucy. Personally she thought that Kenichi was worse than Kurama could ever be. At least the latter had somewhat of an excuse for his behavior considering that humanity used him as a tool for destruction. Kenichi basically killed people on a whim.

"Maybe he will someday." acknowledged Shikamaru.

"What an eventful day that will be." noted Lucy.

"I know..." nodded the shadow ninja.

"But for the time being, I guess I'll just have to stick with Naruto's Rasengan." said the kunoichi.

"The fact that you can use Naruto's Rasengan is a feat in itself." acknowledged Shikamaru.

"I know...it feels so weird having access to so many of his abilities." noted Lucy.

"I bet he feels the same way." spoke the shadow ninja.

"Still, it did make me a lot stronger than before, so I'm not going to complain too much." said the jinchuriki.

**"You'll receive my power in due time. Don't whine about it." **stated Kurama.

"Yeah...I already know that." answered Lucy.

"Personally I wonder what you would look like when you're accessing Kurama's chakra." questioned Shikamaru.

"Maybe I'll grow fangs?" asked the kunoichi.

"Well, that's what Naruto typically did." noted the shadow ninja.

"Sheesh...I hope I don't scare people." said Lucy.

"Well, you probably will..." acknowledged Shikamaru.

"Yeah..." nodded the kunoichi.

"Oddly enough you don't seem to have Naruto's whisker marks on your cheeks..." questioned the shadow ninja.

"I don't? That's rather odd...I thought I was inheriting everything from him...even his love of ramen." noted the kunoichi.

"Then again you probably don't need them." acknowledged Shikamaru.

"Yeah...I probably don't." nodded Lucy.

Still, Lucy wondered if they were going to suddenly appear on her face one day. It would be interesting if Shikamaru saw her like that.

"Hmm..." thought the kunoichi.

Curious, she noticed that Elfman and Mirajane were at the slots.

"C'mon! C'mon!" exclaimed Elfman.

Elfman ended up getting three lemons.

"Yes!" cheered the S-Class candidate.

"Not too bad. Do you think you can get the jackpot?" inquired Mirajane.

"Maybe I can. I'll just have to keep spending tokens." noted the beast mage.

"I wish you luck, brother." said the S-Class mage.

"I wish you luck too." answered Elfman.

"I wish I had a brother or sister..." thought Lucy. Unfortunately, her mother was already dead, so she was stuck being an only child forever and ever...unless her father remarried.

Then again, it was probable that nobody wanted to marry her father anymore considering that he became rather cold after the death of his wife.

It was a bit of a shame, really.

**"Are you thinking about your father again?" **asked Kurama.

"Yes...what was your father like?" inquired Lucy.

**"Well..." **said the nine-tailed fox.

_"Greetings, tailed beasts! I am Hagoromo Otsutsuki, son of Princess Kaguya! Due to the fact that she mutated into a ferocious ten-tailed beast...I decided to divide her into nine different creatures...why do you ask? So she won't cause as much destruction..." explained Hagoromo._

_**"A wise decision." **__remarked Isobu._

_**"Why did you name me after the main character of Dragon Ball Z?" **__inquired Son Goku._

_**"Well, Son Goku is practically my grandfather..." **__answered the first jinchuriki._

_**"Fair enough..." **__nodded the four-tailed beast._

_**"How long do we have to stay here?"**__ asked Matatabi._

_"Relax. This meeting shouldn't take too long...and then you can be on your way..." answered Hagoromo._

_**"I want to explore the world! It sounds awesome!" **__exclaimed Chomei._

_**"I want to cover the world with sand." **__said Shukaku._

_**"I'd rather cover it with poison..." **__contradicted Saiken._

_"Now now now. Don't do anything hasty. Mind you, you're all eventually going to merge back together again." noted Hagoromo._

_"__**Wait, what?!"**__ exclaimed Kokuo._

_**"We're going to merge back together?"**__ inquired Gyuki._

_**"Whoopee." **__remarked Kurama._

_"I'm not sure when it's going to happen, but it's going to happen eventually." explained the man._

_**"So, is the meeting over?" **__asked the nine-tailed fox._

_"Yes. You can go on your way now." answered Hagoromo._

_Immediately, the tailed beasts went on their merry way._

"So, your creator was a sage...who split you along with your eight siblings?" asked Lucy.

**"Pretty much...though personally I've never really considered them to be my brothers and sisters...at least not until now." **explained Kurama.

"Wait...if your creator told you not to attack humanity, why did you do it anyway? Don't you think you should have listened to him?" inquired the kunoichi.

**"Humanity kept using me to wage wars." **said the nine-tailed fox.

"They did?" asked Lucy.

**"Yes...they treated me like a weapon rather than a person...though technically I'm an animal." **spoke Kurama.

"Oh dear..." murmured the jinchuriki.

_"Yes! Today we're going to use the nine-tailed fox to destroy a village!" bellowed a warmonger._

_Kurama could immediately tell that he was a terrible person. Why do you ask? Because he had an eyepatch over his right eye and a goatee._

_**"Not again..." **__said Kurama._

_"Yes! Raze the city to the ground!" screamed the sadistic man._

_**"I wish I had Kakuo's willpower..." **__murmured the nine-tailed fox._

_"I just love the sound of screaming!" bellowed the warmonger._

_**"I'd love to hear the sound of you screaming." **__retorted Kurama._

_Eventually, the village was destroyed._

_"Done and done!" bellowed the sadist._

_**"This is the second time this month this has happened..." **__complained the nine-tailed fox._

"So...humanity enslaved you?" asked Lucy.

"Yes...they did it to me so many times. They just couldn't resist harvesting my power." explained Kurama.

"I'm...sorry to hear that." sympathized the kunoichi.

**"I don't need your pity." **said the nine-tailed fox.

"You...sure?" asked Lucy.

**"Well, maybe...a little." **answered Kurama.

"It's OK! I'm not going to use you a tool of destruction, I promise! I'll treat you the exact same way I treated my Celestial Spirits...which is pretty much how Naruto is treating them." noted Lucy.

**"You won't?" **asked the nine-tailed fox.

"Of course not! Why would I want to destroy a village anyway? Violence doesn't solve problems!" exclaimed Lucy.

Immediately, a tear exited Kurama's eye.

"Was that...a tear?" inquired the jinchuriki.

**"I just had something in my eye, that's all!" **exclaimed Kurama.

"Uh-huh, sure." answered Lucy.

Curious, Kurama began to wonder if having Lucy as his new host was going to be so bad. She was a lot more preferable to Naruto, after all.

Immediately, he began to doze off.

"Have fun in Dreamland, I suppose." said Lucy.

_Meanwhile..._

"This vacation is awesome! We should go on vacations like this more often." noted Happy.

"Yeah, maybe we should!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Nothing can possibly go wrong!" bellowed Gray.

Suddenly, a group of mages burst down the door.

"Again...I really have a big mouth." noted the ice mage.

"Tempting fate, are we?" asked one of the mages.

"Who are you guys?" inquired the fire mage.

"My name's Sho!" exclaimed the mage with blonde hair.

"My name's Wally!" bellowed the mage wearing a top hat.

"My name is Simon." greeted the mage with an eyepatch.

"And my name is Millianna! Meow!" squealed the mage that resembled a cat.

"Why are you all here?" asked Natsu.

"We're looking for Erza Scarlet. Have you seen her?" inquired Sho.

"Sure, I think she's-"

"Natsu, I think that they want to kidnap her!" bellowed Gray.

"What makes you say that?" asked the fire mage.

"Have you taken a look around lately?" inquired the ice mage.

Curious, Natsu used the Byakugan that Hinata had generously provided him...

...and gasped in shock.

Throughout the casino there were several knocked out security guards!

"They're not here to just have a chat with her. They want to abduct her!" bellowed Gray.

"Right you are!" exclaimed Millianna.

"We're going to bring her to Jellal so that he can sacrifice her and revive Zeref!" shouted Sho.

Happy screamed like a little girl.

"Zeref?!" bellowed Gray.

"We...er...can't let you do that." answered Natsu.

"We were expecting some resistance." acknowledged Wally.

Immediately, he summoned some Legomen to attack Natsu and Gray.

"Good lord! We're being attacked by child's playthings!" exclaimed Gray.

The Legomen began to toss LEGO bricks at Natsu and Gray, which ironically wasn't fun at all.

"Ouch!" bellowed the fire mage.

"Oof!" exclaimed the ice mage.

"Jellal said that you were a dragonslayer, right? Well then, I've got just the thing for you then." noted Wally.

Immediately, he summoned a LEGO car to run Natsu over.

Already, he was beginning to feel rather dizzy.

The LEGO car ran over Natsu, flattening him like a pancake.

"Ugh..." murmured the fire mage.

"We're getting clobbered here!" exclaimed the ice mage.

Simon punched Gray in the face, causing him to fall down.

"Aah!" screamed Happy.

Immediately, Happy attracted Millianna's attention.

"You are so adorable! Yes you are, yes you are!" squealed the cat lover.

"Um..." murmured the cat.

"I'm going to take you home with me!" exclaimed Milliana.

"Help!" screamed Happy.

The foursome resumed their search for Erza, along with the evil Legomen.

"Are those Legomen? I played with those back when I was five." questioned Levy.

"Me too." nodded Jet.

Immediately, the Legomen began to hurl LEGO bricks at Jet and Levy as well.

"It's sad when you're attacked by your own toys..." noted Levy.

"Yeah..." agreed Jet.

Levy attempted to attack the Legomen using the word "Boom", but unfortunately the Legomen protected themselves from the explosion by building a wall made out of LEGOS.

"Darn it! Those Legomen are smart." acknowledged the bookworm.

"They sure are." nodded Jet.

Sho tossed some playing cards at Jet and Levy, and they found themselves trapped inside playing cards.

"Let us out of here!" screamed the speed mage.

"The spell will wear off eventually. Keep your shirts on." answered Sho.

Elfman and Mirajane were attacked by Team Jellal next.

"Yes! I won the jackpot!" exclaimed Elfman.

Suddenly, one of the Legomen pulled out a LEGO rocket launcher and blew up the slots machine.

"Noooooo!" screamed the S-Class candidate.

"What gives?" asked Mirajane.

Looking around, she discovered that Legomen were attacking.

"Out of all things..." said the S-Class mage.

Immediately, Mirajane shot a darkness spell at them, causing the Legomen to fall apart.

"Well, that takes care of t-"

Unfortunately, the Legomen began to rebuild themselves.

"Sheesh...things aren't going to be that simple, aren't they?" asked the S-Class Mage.

"I'm afraid not." nodded Wally.

"You call that a darkness spell? This is a darkness spell." spoke Simon.

Immediately, Simon shrouded the room in darkness.

"Where did everyone go?" asked Elfman.

"I don't like this." said Mirajane.

This was then followed by Simon hitting Elfman and Mirajane with an explosion spell, sending them both flying.

"Let's move on." said the darkness mage.

"Let me go!" demanded Happy.

"But you are so adorable!" exclaimed Millianna.

"Well, that's true..." nodded the Exceed.

Personally he wondered if he should look into a mirror and see if he was still adorable as ever. He probably was.

Of course, he had to break free of Millianna's grip first...and since she had an iron grip, that wasn't going to be an easy task.

"Where could Erza possibly be?" asked Simon.

"It looks like she's hiding." noted Wally.

"Considering that we're planning on kidnapping her, I can't really blame her." shrugged Sho.

Curious, Millianna used her animal-like senses to search for Erza.

"It looks like she's sleeping." acknowledged the catgirl.

"Well, that makes abducting her a lot easier." spoke Simon.

"Yeah...wouldn't want her to slash us to ribbons." noted Sho.

Suddenly, all four of them found themselves unable to move.

"What the-" exclaimed Simon.

"Why can't we move?!" bellowed Millianna.

As it turned out, they had been caught by Shikamaru's shadow jutsu.

"Sorry...but I can't let you kidnap my friends now...it wasn't too long ago that Lucy got snatched by the Element 4..." noted Shikamaru.

Speaking of Lucy, she arrived on the scene a few minutes later.

"Let us go!" demanded Sho.

Naturally, Shikamaru's shadow jutsu allowed Happy to break free of Millianna's grip.

"See you later!" bellowed the Exceed.

Millianna groaned.

"Well, I've managed to save one person so far..." noted Shikamaru.

"Way to go, Shikamaru!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Thanks..." answered the shadow ninja.

Unfortunately, their victory was short-lived. Much like Juvia before him, Wally found a way to break free from Shikamaru's shadow jutsu.

Immediately, he converted himself to polygons and teleported next to Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru, look out!" warned Lucy.

"Huh?" asked the shadow ninja.

This was then followed by Wally pulling out his polygon rifle and shooting Shikamaru in the leg.

"Gah!" exclaimed Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru!" bellowed Lucy.

Once again, Shikamaru found his shadow jutsu being dispelled.

"Not again!" shouted the shadow ninja.

"Let's see how you like being restrained! Meow!" bellowed Millianna.

Immediately, Millianna summoned magical tubes that wrapped themselves around Shikamaru and Lucy, effectively restraining them.

They both began to blush upon realizing how tightly they were tied together.

"Right...is that everybody?" asked Simon.

"I believe so, yes." nodded Sho.

"Styling!" exclaimed Wally.

Immediately, Simon, Sho, Wally, and Millianna broke into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible.

They stuffed Erza into their trusty bag of kidnapping, and began to leave the casino.

However, their kidnapping was not unnoticed.

"Oh no! Erza's being kidnapped!" exclaimed Naruto.

Unsurprisingly, he wanted to rescue her.

Carefully following the four abductors, Naruto noticed that they appeared to be driving a boat. On the crow's mast was a flag with the Tower Of Heaven's symbol on it.

Carefully, he stowed away on the boat, hiding inside a barrel.

"I wonder where they're taking her..." thought Naruto.

Immediately, the boat sped off across the ocean.

_Meanwhile..._

"Graykins! Are you OK?" asked Juvia.

"I think so." nodded Gray.

Immediately, Juvia stuffed Gray inside her body so that she could heal him.

He was rejuvenated within a few minutes.

"Thanks." answered the ice mage.

Curious, she noticed that Natsu happened to be injured as well. Strangely, he appeared to be covered with tire tracks.

"Ugh..." murmured the fire mage.

"Wally took advantage of his motion sickness." explained Gray.

"Who's Wally?" asked Juvia.

"He's part of a team that wants to kidnap Erza...I think she might be in danger." noted the ice mage.

"What?! We have to rescue her!" exclaimed Juvia.

"We better make it snappy. They want to use her as a sacrifice so that they can revive Zeref." explained Gray.

"What?!" exclaimed the water mage.

"You heard me correctly. If they succeed...not only will we lose one of our best mages...but one of the most dangerous mages to ever walk Fiore is going to be returned to life." spoke the ice mage.

"Now we need to stop them more than ever!" bellowed Juvia.

"Yes...you're welcome to help me try to rescue her." said Gray.

"Consider it done!" exclaimed the former member of Phantom Lord.

Immediately, Natsu, Gray, and Juvia went to look for as many members of Fairy Tail as they could find. They knew that they did not have much time, so they couldn't gather anyone.

Sure enough, they came across Gajeel and Sakura...who were having an arm wrestling match.

Eventually, they began to gasp for air.

"Why are we equal in everything we do?" asked the iron dragonslayer.

"I don't know." shrugged Tsunade's apprentice.

"We need your help! Erza's been kidnapped!" exclaimed Natsu.

"What? She has?" asked Gajeel.

"We don't have much time! They're getting away!" screamed Gray.

"I guess we should help then." noted Sakura.

"By the way, where's Naruto? I haven't seen him all day..." answered Gajeel.

Curious, Natsu used his Byakugan to search for him.

As it turned out, he was trying to rescue Erza.

"I think there might be hope. Naruto's stowed away on her abductors' boat so that he can save her!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Aww...how sweet." answered Sakura.

"Right...should we go and rescue her now or should we get more people?" asked Gajeel.

At that very moment, Hinata arrived on the scene.

"What's the matter? I heard your voices and noticed that you were worried about something." noted the kunoichi.

"Erza's been kidnapped." explained Erza.

"What?! She has?! Oh no!" bellowed Hinata.

"We desperately need your help." said Gray.

"OK, I will!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Thanks..." spoke Natsu.

Curious, they noticed Ino and Choji were present as well. They were trying to release Shikamaru and Lucy, who were both blushing furiously.

"I wonder what's gotten into them?" asked Ino.

"I'm not sure." answered Choji.

Immediately, Gajeel turned his arm into a sword and cut the magical tubes.

"What exactly happened back there?" inquired Lucy.

"You got tied together...tightly." explained Gajeel.

Once again, Shikamaru and Lucy began to blush.

"So...I take it we're going to rescue Erza? Would you mind if I came up with our strategy?" asked Shikamaru.

"Sure, why not. You're a genius!" exclaimed Choji.

"Thanks." answered the shadow ninja.

"Then again, so is Lucy." noted Ino.

"You flatter me." remarked Lucy.

"I guess I'll make her my second-in-command then." spoke Shikamaru.

"You flatter me too!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Last but not least, Team Shadow Gear arrived on the scene.

"What's going on? It feels like Akane Resort's turned into Bedlam!" bellowed Levy.

"In a sense, it has." answered Hinata.

Sure enough, Levy's shadow was very unhappy.

"What's going on?" asked Jet.

"Erza has been kidnapped. We need to rescue her." explained Shikamaru.

"They want to use her as a sacrifice...so that they can bring Zeref back to life!" bellowed Gray.

Team Shadow Gear gasped in shock.

"I...guess we can't dawdle then." noted Levy.

"It's true, we can't." agreed Droy.

"Who's Zeref?" asked Shikamaru.

"The most dangerous wizard of all time." explained Lucy.

"Oh...I guess we should try to rescue her as soon as possible." noted the shadow ninja.

"I think we have enough mages. Let's go!" exclaimed Natsu.

"I'm right with you!" shouted Hinata.

"Can I come along too?" asked Kimimaro.

Curious, they noticed that Kimimaro was also present.

"Um, sure..." nodded Juvia.

"Wait for me!" exclaimed Happy.

"I suppose you can come along too." said Hinata.

Immediately, the fifteen of them went to their boat and began to speed off into the night.

It was going to be one heck of a rescue mission.

_Meanwhile..._

Chiyoye gasped in pleasant surprise. It appeared that Erza had been abducted and had therefore been separated from her companions.

Immediately, she began to laugh evilly.

She finally had the opportunity that she was waiting for.

Using the crystal ball, she was able to determine where her abductors were headed.

As it turned out, they were heading towards the Tower Of Heaven, which they would use to resurrect Zeref.

Now all she had to do was dress up as one of Zeref's devoted zealots, infilitrate the tower, find Erza, and latch onto her to complete the life-draining process.

"This is almost too easy." thought Chiyoye.

Using the crystal ball, she was able to determine the Tower Of Heaven's precise location.

Casting a teleportation spell, she warped there on the spot.

_Oh no! Erza's been kidnapped! And to make matters worse Chiyoye is taking advantage of the situation._

_In the next chapter, Naruto's going to try to rescue Erza, and so are the rescue party. But things aren't going to be that simple, of course...Jellal's got friends...and three mercenaries on his side._

_Oh...and he's got a never beforeseen character on his side too. He happens to be an OC. Heh heh._

_He also happens to have two demon bodyguards...so some bozo doesn't assassinate him. It pays to be careful like that._

_In the next chapter, our heroes are going to invade the Tower Of Heaven._


	40. Chapter 40: The Tower Of Heaven

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...our heroes are going to split up into teams in order to help Naruto save Erza._

_Also, Naruto will encounter Jellal...and his two demonic bodyguards. Yes, he has bodyguards in this fanfic._

**Chapter 40: The Tower Of Heaven**

Unaware that they had a stowaway, Erza's friends stopped their boat at the Tower Of Heaven harbor.

It had been a rather nice trip...but all good things had to come to an end sooner or later. Besides, they had a mission to complete.

Exiting the boat along with their abductee (who surprisingly was still asleep), the four decided to take a glance at the Tower Of Heaven.

Of course, this was where Jellal wanted to take Erza...so that he could use her as a sacrifice to revive Zeref. This was the place that she needed to go...and where the Lacrima was located.

"Well, it looks like we're here. It was a rather nice trip." noted Simon.

"I'll say!" exclaimed Wally.

"We had to the dungeon now, right?" asked Sho.

"Of course!" bellowed Millianna.

Immediately, the four took Erza to the dungeon.

"Erza's heavier than I remembered her to be..." questioned Simon.

"I know!" exclaimed Sho.

"We don't have to carry her too far, right?

However, Naruto popped out of the barrel shortly afterwards.

"Looks like the boat's stopped..." noted the chunin as he rubbed his head.

To be honest, he was feeling a bit seasick. It was a good thing that the boat wasn't moving that fast, or he might have vomited all over the barrel.

Stepping outside the boat, he noticed that there was an enormous tower a short distance away from him.

"So that's where they took her...phew! This tower is huge!" exclaimed Naruto.

In fact, he was having a hard time seeing the roof. In order to see it, he had to step on his tippytoes.

Something told him that finding Erza wasn't going to be easy...

...but he wouldn't forgive himself if he didn't try to save her life. It just wasn't in his nature.

"Here I go!" exclaimed the former jinchuriki, leaping his way towards the entrance.

Unfortunately, there were several security guards in front of the tower. They clearly didn't want anyone that wasn't friends with Jellal to go inside.

"What's this? It appears that we have an intruder!" bellowed one of the guards.

Immediately, they pulled out an assortment of medieval weapons.

"Oh dear...looks like the tower is guarded." noted the ninja.

One of the guards swung a scythe at his head.

In retaliation, he hit the guards with a Rasengan and knocked them down like dominoes.

However, they slowly got back up, and one of them shot at him with a crossbow.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Naruto. That crossbow bolt had pierced his shoulder. Thankfully, it was only a graze.

"Maybe I need to even the odds..." acknowledged the chunin.

Immediately, he began to summon some clones to attack the security guards...who rapidly found themselves overwhelmed.

Unfortunately, one of the guards took out the clones with a flail, though he got a kunai to the face shortly afterwards for his trouble.

"Personally I would use more state-of-the-art weapons..." shrugged Naruto. Then again, maybe Fiore wasn't as technologically advanced as Konoha was, considering that they relied on magic instead of chakra.

Opening the door, he stepped inside and glanced at his surroundings.

"Hmm...this place is rather neat. I kind of wish I had a tower like this." noted the chunin.

Sure enough, the tower looked rather exquisite...yet also rather quaint.

"Right...it's time for be a hero." said the former jinchuriki.

Taking a deep breath, he began to search the tower for the S-Class Mage that he was very close to.

"I hope that I'm not already too late..." noted Naruto. They mentioned something about using her as a sacrifice.

_Meanwhile..._

"Congratulations, Jellal! Everything is going to plan!" exclaimed Millianna.

"Is it now?" asked the dark mage.

As it turned out, Jellal was communicating with them on an intercom.

"We have Erza! She should be ready for sacrifice! This'll teach her to betray us." acknowledged Sho.

"I honestly wish that she hadn't done that." noted Simon.

"So do I. That was totally uncool!" exclaimed Wally.

"Very good. You can go on and do your business now. I'm going to go pay her a visit..." answered Jellal.

"Yes, master." nodded Simon.

Immediately, Jellal sat on his chair, satisfied at the turn of events. His friends had done the job well.

Now all that was left was to take Erza to the Lacrima...and then the job would be done. Zeref would come back to life, and everyone would be happy...except for Erza herself of course, since she would be dead.

"Here's hoping that she doesn't haunt me from behind the grave..." thought Jellal. Considering that she was once one of his closest friends...that wouldn't be too unlikely.

Fortunately, he had the Ghostbusters' phone number ready...though he wasn't sure if they had a boat that they could use to travel across the sea. He had only seen their car...and heard their rather unusual siren.

Suddenly, he heard a strange voice that sounded like a cross between a boy and a girl's, and glanced at the camera monitors.

He discovered that there was an intruder snooping his way throughout the tower.

Not only that, but he had gotten mud all over the carpet. He had had that dry-cleaned just yesterday. Now he was going to have to start all over again.

"Erza? Where are you? Are you there? Erza! Hello?" asked Naruto.

"Oh dear...it looks like someone's come looking for Erza Scarlet. A close friend of hers, no doubt." acknowledged Jellal.

Shrugging, he decided to give him a warning for the time being. If that failed, he would permit his loyal henchmen to do everything necessary to prevent him from interrupting the resurrection ritual.

He had gotten too far to give up now. After all, if the Tower Of Heaven suddenly exploded...he would have to rebuild it from scratch. The slaves certainly wouldn't be looking forward to that.

It seemed just like yesterday that the spirit of Zeref had contacted him and told him that he was the only one that could bring him back to life.

Normally, he wouldn't be interested in listening to him...but he promised him that he would use his power for good instead of evil. After all, he could create life just as easily as he could extinguish it.

As such, he had started rewarding the slaves for successfully building the Tower Of Heaven rather than punish them with their failure as the previous slaveholders had done...partly because he knew how a whip felt.

Immediately, he began to rub his face.

Now that he thought of it...didn't they brainwash him to serve them obediently? He couldn't remember it that well. All he remembered was them swinging a pendulum at his face.

No matter. They were all dead now. The slaves had resorted to cannibalism and had devoured the slavedrivers due to the fact that the slaveholders weren't feeding them enough...so he made sure that they well-fed.

Granted, he had never given them shoes (forcing them to walk around barefoot) and had made them keep their slave uniforms...but they were never fond of footwear or underpants anyway. They liked to go commando.

"Right...I guess I'll go pay him a visit." noted Jellal.

Suddenly, two enormous demons sat next to him in a burst of black and red smoke respectively.

One of them was black as ink, while the other was red as blood. The black demon had a tail with a blade on it, while the red demon had a tail with an orb on it.

Also, the black demon happened to be male and the red demon happened to be female.

"Hmm? How'd you two get here? I don't remember you being in the Tower Of Heaven arc..." questioned the dark mage.

Immediately, the black demon handed Jellal a note.

"Congratulations, Jellal! The supreme author of this fanfic has gifted you with two demons to help you defeat your enemies! They will serve as your loyal bodyguards!" read Jellal.

"Well, it looks it's my lucky day." noted the space mage.

The red demon handed Jellal a note as well.

"The black demon happens to be a ninja, while the red demon happens to be a mage. Use them wisely!" read Jellal once more.

"What's a ninja?" questioned the S-Class Mage.

Immediately, the black demon began to run around the room really fast.

"You're...a demon that can move really fast?" asked Jellal.

The black demon shrugged. That was close enough.

"Right...would you mind coming with me to go visit the intruder? I'm worried that he might attack me. He seems...a bit desperate to rescue his loved one." acknowledged the S-Class Mage.

The black and red demon both nodded.

"Thanks." answered Jellal.

Immediately, he teleported out of the room along with the two demons.

_A few minutes later..._

"Well, she's definitely not in the foyer. I guess I need to keep looking elsewhere." noted Naruto.

Suddenly, Jellal and the two demons materialized at a nearby balcony.

"What the-" exclaimed the chunin.

"So...you're the one whose sneaking your way throughout my tower. I can't say I approve of that." spoke the space mage.

Curious, Naruto recalled Erza telling him about her childhood friend. Was that really him in the flesh?

"Give me back Erza, Jellal!" demanded the chunin.

"That is something that I cannot do. You see...I intend on using her as a sacrifice." explained Jellal.

"What?!" exclaimed the chunin.

"Using the Lacrima at the top of the tower, we can use her to bring life back to Zeref." continued the former slave.

"Zeref? Who's Zeref?" asked Naruto.

"You haven't heard of him? You should know! He's the most dangerous mage of all time!" exclaimed Erza's childhood friend.

"Oh...I don't think I can let you resurrect him then." noted the chunin.

"You think you can stop me?" asked Jellal.

"Yes, I can!" exclaimed Naruto.

Immediately, Naruto tossed a kunai at Jellal.

Much to his surprise, the black demon standing to Jellal's right not only intercepted the kunai, he flung it right back at him.

Frantically, he moved aside so that it wouldn't hit him in his beloved neck and die an ironic death.

Realizing that kunai weren't going to be effective, Naruto tried using his Rasengan next.

However, the red demon blocked it using her force field spell.

"Well, at least you didn't try to kill me." said the chunin.

This was then followed by the red demon tossing a fireball at him.

"Never mind." answered Naruto as he dove out of the way.

"I have to admit...these demon bodyguards are really efficient." thought Jellal.

"So...you thought you could just kill me just like that, did you? You think you can single-handedly thwart my entire operation...well, you were wrong on both accounts." clarified the space mage.

Naruto sighed. Things weren't going to be that easy, weren't they? He should have known better than that.

"Mind you...I wouldn't try to stop me if I were you. You see, Zeref has his own cult of devoted worshipees." explained Jellal.

Sure enough, several of Zeref's zealots made their appearance. They were chanting ominously, and it was creeping Naruto out.

All of them appeared to be dressed in black robes...though their facial features were quite different. Some of them were wearing scary-looking masks, some of them were wearing hoods.

"Yes...let's sacrifice this boy to Zeref. He is our god...we cannot fail him..." murmured one of the zealots.

Naruto began to shiver with fear. He was glad that he had taken a deep breath when he had gone into the Tower Of Heaven...which despite its name was turning out to be the Tower Of Hell.

Unlike the security guards he had encountered earlier, most of them appeared to be wielding magical weapons, namely staffs and wands.

"They're not too happy that you're trying to thwart my plans to bring Zeref back from the dead...they've been waiting for the opportunity for quite some time now." explained Jellal.

"Are you some sort of gelatin mage?" asked Naruto.

"No, I am not. Why do you-oh, very funny." answered the space mage.

"Good...I was worried that you were going to trap me inside a blob of Jello." answered the chunin.

Jellal shrugged. That actually would be a rather nifty spell to have...even if the prison was edible.

"Right then...I'd suggest you leave while you still have the chance. The more you stick around in the tower, the more aggressive the zealots are going to get." warned the space mage.

"Thanks for the warning...but I'm not going to rest until I've rescued Erza!" bellowed Naruto.

"We'll see if you can pull it off." answered Jellal.

Immediately, Jellal and his two demonic bodyguards teleported away.

"You know...this reminds me a bit of a video game I played...it involved saving the president's daughter...I think?" asked Naruto.

He couldn't quite remember what the name of the game was.

Suddenly, one of the zealots tossed a fireball of darkness at him.

"Yikes!" bellowed the chunin.

"Don't let him rescue the girl...otherwise all is lost..." murmured the zealot.

"Why do you keep talking like that?" asked Naruto.

"We don't have an outdoors voice, OK?!" bellowed one of the cultists.

"But you just shouted just now." pointed out the former jinchuriki.

"I did? Weird?" questioned the cultist.

"Wait, where were we?" asked a mask-wearing zealot.

Once again, the zealots began to chant ominously.

"Sheesh...being in Zeref's servitude must have really gone onto their heads..." noted Naruto.

Immediately, he began to wonder if they were doing more inside the Tower Of Heaven rather than simply sacrificing Erza Scarlet.

That wouldn't surprise him.

Curious, he noticed that one of the zealot's robes happened to be covered with blood...which appeared to be quite fresh.

"This isn't a good sign..." thought the teenage boy.

He needed to rescue Erza...

...and fast.

_Meanwhile..._

"It looks like this is the place." noted Lucy.

"It's huge..." acknowledged Levy.

"I know...looks like somebody had a lot of time on their hands..." said Shikamaru.

"I'll say!" agreed Choji.

"I'm starting to feel a bit scared..." worried Ino.

Immediately, Choji gave Ino a hug.

"Thank you..." said the kunoichi.

"Right...let's go in there and pound their faces!" exclaimed Gajeel.

"Yeah...like he said." nodded Sakura.

"Let's not be hasty. It'd be foolhardy to go inside the Tower Of Heaven without a plan. In case it's not obvious...the tower happens to be guarded. Guarded by security guards...and cultists." explained Shikamaru.

Sure enough, another boat arrived. On the boat were several people looking to be a part of Zeref's cult.

As a token of good will, they had brought some supplies on them.

"Welcome!" exclaimed a cultist dressed in purple. Apparently, cultists wearing purple robes happened to serve as ringleaders for this cult. Perhaps they were the cult's founders? Then again, maybe it was founded by Zeref himself.

It was a bit mysterious.

He in fact was handing the visitors black robes...which signified that they were initiates.

"You may now go to our altar and worship Zeref! Today's the day that we're going to be bring him back from the dead!" exclaimed the man.

"This is terrible..." murmured Happy.

"I know...we need to come up with a plan." answered Levy.

"Right...Hinata and Natsu...can you scan the tower with your Byakugan?" asked Shikamaru.

Hinata and Natsu nodded.

Sure enough, they could see everything. Erza had been locked away in a prison cell...there were slaves in the tower's dungeons...there was a man monitoring everything from a camera monitor room...

...and much to their surprise, Naruto was trying to rescue Erza.

"It looks like Naruto got here before us." acknowledged Hinata.

"He sure did!" exclaimed Natsu.

"So...did you find anything interesting? You did mention something about Naruto being here..." asked Lucy.

"Well, there's a giant crystal at the top of the tower. There also happens to be slaves too...and a man dressed in robes. He must be some kind of wizard." explained Hinata.

"Interesting..." noted Kimimaro.

"Right...here is the plan. Happy, Ino, Choji...your mission is to cause a distraction so that everyone else can do their jobs unimpeded." explained Shikamaru.

"That's a good start." nodded Choji.

"You can count on us!" exclaimed Happy.

"We won't let you down!" answered Ino.

"Gray and Juvia...your mission is to infilitrate the tower from underwater. I'm sure that there's a drain somewhere." ordered Shikamaru.

"So...we're going through the sewers?" asked Juvia.

"Yes, you are." nodded the shadow ninja.

Gray shivered with revulsion...but he agreed to his mission.

"Hinata and Natsu...your mission is to cause as much havoc as possible in order to throw the enemy forces into chaos." continued the shadow ninja.

"What?" asked Hinata.

"You want us to work together?" inquired Natsu.

"Do you two hate each other?" asked Shikamaru.

"Er, no...quite the contrary...we were just a bit surprised at the occurrence, that's all." answered Hinata.

"I figured you two would work together since you're both fire dragonslayers. Sakura and Gajeel, your mission is to free the prisoners." said the shadow ninja.

"We're on it!" bellowed Sakura.

Gajeel began to flex his muscles.

"Team Shadow Gear, your mission is to prevent our enemies from receiving reinforcements. The less they receive, the better." answered Shikamaru.

Team Shadow Gear saluted Shikamaru.

"Kimimaro...your mission is rather simple. You just go out there and take down as many of our enemies as you can." explained the shadow ninja.

"Yes, of course." answered the bone ninja.

"As for Lucy and myself...well, we're going to find out what exactly they're planning here. I doubt that it's anything good." stated Shikamaru.

"You want us to work together?" asked Lucy.

"Why do you ask?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"No reason." answered the kunoichi.

Curious, Shikamaru noticed that Lucy now had a wide smile on her face.

"Right...this is our plan. Any questions?" asked the shadow ninja.

"Shouldn't one of us be trying to rescue Erza?" inquired Gray.

"I believe Naruto's already going to handle that. We're just trying to help him every way we can." clarified the Nara clan member.

"I found this interesting book detailing unison raids at the Akane Resort..." noted Levy.

Curious, Erza's rescue team began to look at the book. It was rather interesting.

"Apparently...if two mages's hearts are in sync...they can combine their magic to form powerful spells." said Jet.

"You mean...like us?" asked Droy.

"Possibly." answered the speed mage.

"You think it will work for ninjas too?" asked Hinata.

"It might..." noted Juvia.

"I'm looking forward to using that kind of spell!" replied Natsu.

"Me too!" bellowed Happy.

"Right...you all understood your jobs, right?" asked Shikamaru.

Erza's rescue team nodded.

"Good. Let's head to the tower now and save Erza, shall we?" inquired the Nara clan member.

Everyone nodded.

Immediately, the fifteen mages (and ninjas) headed straight towards their destinations.

_Meanwhile..._

Erza woke up from her slumber, happy to have such a satisfying dream.

Of course, it involved Naruto...and him being shirtless.

However, she was rather surprised that she was no longer in her bed.

"Huh? Where am I?" asked the knight.

Immediately, she realized that she was a prison cell.

"OK...I knew I shouldn't have jaywalked down the street." noted Erza.

Curious, she began to take a closer look...and noticed that she appeared to be in a tower of some kind.

"Wait a minute..." answered the knight.

Could this be the exact same tower that she was forced to work at as a child?

It just couldn't be.

"What's going on here?" asked Erza.

"You're about to become a human sacrifice, that's what." answered Sho.

Erza gasped in surprise. Sure enough, her old friend was standing there.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked the knight.

"You should know. I can't believe you betrayed us like this..." spoke the card mage.

"Betray you? What are you talking about?" inquired Erza.

"Isn't it obvious? You left us to die!" exclaimed Sho.

"What?! No, I didn't!" bellowed the knight.

"Spare your lies! Jellal came and told us everything!" shouted the blonde.

"Jellal?!" screeched Erza. Was he still alive after all this time?

Then again, so was she.

"I hope you've had a nice life...because tonight's going to be your last!" bellowed Sho.

Immediately, he disappeared in a burst of playing cards.

Erza let out a sigh. It appeared that not only was Jellal alive...he had manipulated her friends against her.

Not only that, but he was planning on using her as some sort of human sacrifice.

Now that she thought of it...wasn't that what the Tower Of Heaven was for? To use human sacrifices to bring back people back from the dead?

It looked like she was going to have to go pay Jellal a visit and try to straighten things out with him...or failing that, stab and slash him to death with her sword.

But before doing that...she had to find a way out of her prison cell.

"How do I do that?" asked Erza.

Curious, she noticed that in the zealots' excitement of their master returning to them...they had left her cell completely unguarded.

"Well, it looks like today's my lucky day...then again, I'm not lucky enough to not be in this mess." acknowledged the knight.

Personally, she wondered if her friends had come to rescue her. That was what she would do for them, after all...in particular Naruto.

"Why didn't I participate in that rescue mission to save Naruto from Phantom Lord? Granted, I was rather busy at the time." questioned Erza.

Shrugging, she decided that now was a good time to break out.

Immediately, she began to kick at the door, causing it to shake.

"Well, it doesn't seem too sturdy...then again, I do have super strength." noted the knight.

In just a few minutes, she was able to bust down the door.

"Well, so much for the prison cell. All that's left now is to go pay Jellal a visit. What's gotten into him, anyway? I thought we were friends...then again, he did get brainwashed." pondered Erza.

However, her breakout was not unnoticed.

Immediately, a few security guards came to investigate the noise.

"Get back in your cell!" exclaimed one of the guards.

"Well...since you asked so nicely...no." answered the knight.

Immediately, the guards pulled out some daggers, hoping to stab her into unconsciousness.

"Remember...we need her alive!" warned one of the guards.

"Yeah...I kind of already know that." replied Erza.

Unfortunately for the security guards, their daggers were no match for Erza's sword, and they were knocked out within a few minutes.

"Now...where could Jellal possibly be?" asked the knight.

Immediately, she began to think to herself where he would possibly be hiding.

"Well, I suppose if I were for him, I'd be all the way at the top of the tower. That way he could have a birds' eye view of everything." noted Erza.

Shrugging, she decided to look for the nearest staircase.

Incidentally, there was one nearby.

"Well, it's time to start a very long climb." acknowledged the S-Class Mage.

No doubt she was going to have go through a lot of security guards...

...and a lot of Zeref's devoted fanboys.

"Why do so many people worship Zeref?" inquired Erza. Don't they know how dangerous he is? He could wipe them out in a heartbeat!

Then again, part of her wished that she had that sort of power herself. It would solve a lot of her problems.

"Here I go." said Erza as she climbed up the steps.

_At the upper levels of the tower..._

"So...we're looking for answers, right?" asked Lucy.

"Yes...why exactly do they want Erza so bad? I doubt they're kidnapping people for no reason." nodded Shikamaru.

"Yeah...I can't help but shake the feeling there's something sinister at work here." questioned the kunoichi.

Curious, they noticed that there was a book.

"What's this?" inquired the kunoichi.

As it turned out, it was Jellal Fernandes's diary.

"Shikamaru...I think you should take a look at this!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Hmm?" asked the shadow ninja.

Sure enough, it appeared that this diary would tell them what they wanted.

"I guess we should start reading." noted the kunoichi.

Unfortunately, as soon as they flipped the first page, an alarm went off.

Thankfully, only a few security guards appeared.

"Who do you think you are? That's Jellal's private diary!" exclaimed one of the guards.

"For that, we're gouging your eyes out!" screamed another guard.

"Sheesh. Jellal must really not want people reading his diary." noted Lucy.

"It looks that way." answered Shikamaru.

"That's why I keep my diary under lock and key." explained the current jinchuriki of Kurama.

**"I wonder what it has to say?" **asked Kurama.

Lucy began to blush. Hopefully Kurama wouldn't tell everyone about how she felt about Shikamaru.

Fortunately, Shikamaru was able to catch the guards using his shadow jutsu.

"Let us go!" demanded the guards.

"They're all yours now." said the shadow ninja.

Lucy whipped the guards into submission, and they were knocked out cold.

"Let's read the first page." spoke Shikamaru.

_Dear Diary,_

_The Tower Of Heaven is finally complete! I have to say I've been looking forward to this._

"So...this monument is known as the Tower Of Heaven?" inquired Lucy.

"It looks that way." nodded Shikamaru.

Curious, they wondered if they should keep reading.

Lucy flipped to the second page...

...and another alarm went off.

"Not again!" exclaimed the shadow ninja.

"It seems that every page is booby-trapped." noted Lucy.

"Yeah..." nodded Shikamaru.

This time, three zealots came in.

"Do not let them read Master Jellal's diary..." murmured one of the zealots.

"OK...they're really creeping me out." said Lucy.

"Me too." agreed Shikamaru.

Immediately, one of the zealots pulled out a staff.

"And they've got magic." noted the female ninja.

The zealot initiates began to summon demons.

"This can't be good." said Shikamaru.

Thankfully, since they were only initiates...they couldn't summon powerful demons. In fact, they could only summon imps.

"That's a relief." noted Lucy.

Nonetheless, the imps were going to be somewhat of a threat.

Immediately, one of the imps began to pull on Lucy's hair.

"Let go!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"Hey! Nobody touches Lucy's hair!" bellowed Shikamaru.

"Except for maybe me." he thought.

Immediately, Shikamaru forced the imp to let go of Lucy.

"Thanks..." answered the kunoichi. Fortunately, none of her hair was yanked out and she didn't end up bald.

However, the initiates were summoning more demons.

"We might...want to make them stop." noted Lucy.

Shikamaru nodded, and latched onto the initiates using his shadow jutsu.

Once again, Lucy whipped the zealots into submission.

"I have to admit...we sure work well together." noted the current jinchuriki.

"Yeah...we do..." concurred Shikamaru.

Once again, they began to read from the diary.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today I was visited by Zeref. Or rather his spirit. It was rather...horrifying._

"Yeah...I would imagine it would be horrifying." acknowledged Lucy.

**"Zeref doesn't scare me." **stated Kurama.

"That's because you haven't met the guy." answered the jinchuriki.

**"Oh, right..." **recalled the nine-tailed fox.

Once again, they began to flip through the pages.

This time, they were attacked by two ogres.

"Uh-oh..." said Lucy. For some strange reason, it appeared that Jellal had ogres under his employ.

Immediately, one of them ripped off the green dress she was wearing.

"Oh, man!" bellowed the kunoichi.

Fortunately, she was able to wrap what was left of it around her chest.

Shikamaru took out the ogres with his Shadow Strangle jutsu a few minutes later.

"Darn it! Again with the clothing damage..." said Lucy.

Curious, she noticed that Shikamaru was staring at her bare stomach and shoulders.

"What?" asked the kunoichi.

Noticing what he was doing, Shikamaru immediately began to blush.

"Sorry!" apologized Shikamaru.

"No no no, it's fine. You can stare at my torso...just remember, my eyes are up here." answered Lucy.

Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief.

**"Can I stare at your torso?" **inquired Kurama.

"Sorry, I haven't known you as long." stated Lucy.

Kurama groaned.

"I guess we should keep reading." answered Shikamaru.

Once again, they began to flip the pages of Zeref's diary...though Shikamaru seemed more interested in staring at Lucy's body.

"Let's find out what they're planning..." said Lucy.

_At the middle levels of the tower..._

As Shikamaru had instructed them to do, Hinata and Natsu were causing chaos throughout the building.

Several security guards were trying to stop them...but they were getting clobbered.

"This is too easy!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Don't keep saying things like that. It will only make things harder." warned Hinata.

"Oh, right..." remembered the fire mage.

"I'm just giving you advice, that's all." explained Hinata.

"Right...of course." nodded Natsu.

Curious, Natsu noticed that Hinata was not actively attacking the security guards like he was.

"Do you...want to join in?" asked the male dragonslayer.

"I'd love to...but I would rather play it safe." answered Hinata.

Immediately, she began to trace the ground with her finger, creating a ring of fire around herself.

"There! Now I'm safe..." stated the female dragonslayer.

Sure enough, one of the security guards attempted to attack Hinata...only to find themselves being burned by the ring of fire for their trouble.

"They aren't that smart..." thought the kunoichi.

Natsu of course was trying to destroy everything he could find. This seemed to be rather effective, as the guards were standing to panic.

"We need backup!" bellowed one of the Tower Of Heaven's defenders.

Sure enough, they were starting to retreat.

"Alright!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Natsu, can I ask you something?" asked Hinata.

"Sure!" nodded the male dragonslayer.

"Why are you holding back? Your portfolio said that you should be able to do more than this..." questioned the kunoichi.

"Oh...about that. You see, when I work with another mage...I have to surpress my power so I don't end up burning them." explained Natsu.

"Oh...do you now?" asked Hinata.

"I've had some accidents in the past." stated the fire mage.

_Natsu was working with Lucy to take down a troll._

_"I'll light you up!" bellowed Natsu._

_However, in the process, he ended up burning away Lucy's clothes._

_"Natsu!" screeched Lucy._

_"Whoops!" exclaimed the fire mage._

_A few days later, the exact same thing happened while he and Gray were fighting an ice demon._

_"Darn it, Natsu!" bellowed Gray._

_"Sorry, Gray!" apologized Natsu._

_"Sheesh!" exclaimed the fire mage._

_And only a week later, it happened again with him and Erza while they were fighting a dragon._

_"Natsu!" screamed Erza._

_"Oops!" exclaimed Natsu._

_"How are you doing today?" asked the knight._

_"Thank goodness for Erza's lack of modesty." thought the fire mage._

"Oh...that makes sense." acknowledged Hinata.

"Yeah...wouldn't want any more mishaps." noted Natsu.

"Well, Natsu, as much as I appreciate the concern...I don't think you're going to have to worry this time." stated the female dragonslayer.

"Huh?" asked the male dragonslayer.

"Due to the fact I'm your interdimensional partner...I happen to be completely and utterly immune to fire." explained Hinata.

"Wait, what?" inquired Natsu.

Curious, Natsu held out a fireball in front of Hinata's face.

She immediately consumed it in order to rejuvenate herself.

"Oh..." acknowledged Igneel's foster son.

"I'm starting to see why Shikamaru wanted us to work together..." noted the female dragonslayer.

"Me too." comprehended Natsu.

Immediately, he decided it was time to stop holding back.

"Let the burning begin!" exclaimed the male dragonslayer.

"That's the Natsu I know." answered Hinata.

"And love..." she thought.

Sure enough, Natsu was burning everything in sight.

"Mind you...you might not want to use so much magic...you don't want to run out of mana." noted Hinata.

"I can always eat some of your fire." answered Natsu.

"Huh. Oh yeah...we are one effective duo." acknowledged the kunochi.

"We sure are!" exclaimed the male mage.

Sure enough, some zealots had arrived on the scene.

"Don't let them burn this tower to the ground...don't let them burn the tower to the ground..." murmured the zealot.

"Why do they keep chanting like that?" asked Natsu.

"Your guess is as good as mine." shrugged Hinata.

Fortunately, the initiates weren't very smart and were casting fire spells.

"They aren't thinking things through, are they?" inquired Natsu as he pummeled them with his fists.

"No, they are not." anwered Hinata.

However, more experienced zealots had arrived on the scene. Judging from the white robes they were wearing, they happened to be acolytes.

This is of course was a step up from initiate...though they didn't seem to be high-ranking members of the cult.

They were a tad bit more dangerous, as one of them casted a polymorph spell to turn Natsu into a frog.

"Ribbit!" bellowed the polymorphed dragonslayer.

"Natsu!" exclaimed Hinata.

Realizing that he was at a disadvantage, he immediately leapt into the confines of Hinata's fire barrier.

Fortunately, since Hinata was essentially a princess back at her world, she was able to turn Natsu back to normal by kissing him on the forehead.

Oddly enough, she enjoyed it despite how slimy Natsu was at the moment.

"Thanks..." murmured Natsu.

Once again, the duo resumed their mission.

_At the Tower Of Heaven sewer system..._

"So...we're sneaking our way in through the sewers?" asked Gray.

"That's what Shikamaru wanted us to do, yes." answered Juvia.

"I suppose it's a plan...but this sewer's rather disgusting." noted the ice mage.

Suddenly, a sewer rat bit him on the hand.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the devil slayer.

Fortunately, the sewer rat was not rabid.

"Ugh..." murmured Gray.

"Are you OK? If you want I can kiss your hand to make you feel better!" exclaimed Juvia.

"Whoa there, Juvia! You're starting to be a stalker again!" warned the ice mage.

"Sorry! I was just asking!" apologized the water mage.

"It's fine...thanks for the concern." stated Gray.

"You're welcome!" cheered Juvia.

Curious, they noticed that there appeared to be giant sewer rats inside the sewers.

"Sheesh..." murmured the ice mage.

"What have they been putting in the water here?" inquired Juvia.

"I don't know...but it can't be anything pleasant." acknowledged Gray.

"It can't." agreed the water mage.

Unsurprisingly, the giant sewer rats began to attack them.

Fortunately, Juvia was able to control the water and use it to attack the giant sewer rats.

"They're rather vicious, aren't they?" questioned Gray.

"I'll say!" nodded Juvia.

Thankfully, they were more bark than bite.

However, they encountered some more security guards a few minutes later. They were carrying some flashlights.

"Why do we have to guard the sewers?" inquired one of the guards.

"Someone has to do it..." answered yet another guard.

"They've got security guards down here, too?" questioned Gray.

Immediately, Gray and Juvia dove into the water in order to avoid them.

Thankfully, the latter was able to purify the water so they didn't get mutated like the unfortunate sewer rats.

"Funny, I thought I heard somebody." questioned one of the security guards.

"It was probably nothing." answered another security guard.'

Immediately, the security guards began to walk away.

"Looks like we've escaped detection..." noted Gray.

Juvia let out a sigh of relief.

"However, we're going to need to be careful if we want to infilitrate the tower..." acknowledged the ice mage.

"Yes..." agreed the water mage.

Carefully, the two of them began to traverse across the water to avoid being detected.

Suddenly, a sewer mutant emerged from the water. Incidentally, he happened to be rather muddy and looked rather muscular. Also, he was very ugly.

"What gives?!" exclaimed Gray.

"I'm really starting to not like what's going on here..." stated Juvia.

Apparently, somebody had dumped quite a few chemicals into the sewers.

Immediately, the sewer mutant began to spew out some sticky goo.

Juvia began to blush furiously upon being glued together to Gray.

"Um..." murmured Gray.

The sewer mutant then began to pummel them with his fists.

"Agh!" bellowed Juvia.

"Oof!" shouted the devil slayer.

This mutant was rather strong, no doubt about it.

Immediately, Juvia shot some bubbles at the sewer mutant, since he smelled rather bad.

Grimacing, the sewer mutant began to spew out some more sticky goo.

However, this time they were ready.

"Can you wash off the sticky goo?" asked Gray.

"But I like being stuck together like this! Besides, we can still use our arms and legs freely!" exclaimed Juvia.

"Fine..." answered the ice mage. To be honest, part of him enjoyed this too...though he wasn't as ecstatic about it as Juvia was.

Besides...what exactly was the goo made of?

Gray shot some icicles at the sewer mutant, causing him to roar.

This attracted a few security guards.

"I can't believe there are intruders all the way in the sewers! This is the last place I would look for them!" bellowed a guard.

Immediately, they pulled out an assortment of medieval weapons.

Oddly enough, the sewer mutant paid little attention to the guards, instead continuing his assault on them.

"Weird..." thought Gray.

Immediately, the sewer mutant began to pick up the guards and toss them at Gray and Juvia.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the ice mage.

"Yikes!" bellowed the water mage.

Fortunately, they were able to avoid them...though one of their helmets hit Gray in the face.

"Ouch!" bellowed Gray.

"It's OK Gray! I'll make it better! I promise!" exclaimed Juvia.

"But we're glued back to back..." pointed out the ice mage.

"Oh, right..." answered the water mage.

Immediately, Juvia began to stuff Gray into her body, causing the goo to disappear in the process.

"You feel so good!" exclaimed Juvia.

Gray let out a sigh. At least Juvia's body was warm and comfortable.

_At the lower levels of the Tower Of Heaven..._

"So...this is where they're keeping the prisoners?" asked Sakura.

"It looks that way." nodded Gajeel.

Sure enough, there were guards in place to make sure none of the slaves got away.

Immediately, the guards noticed them.

"What's this? It appears that we have intruders...either that or some of the slaves have escaped." noted one of the guards.

Of course, the guards pulled out medieval weapons.

Unfortunately for them, Gajeel was able to eat every single one of their weapons, causing them to scream like little girls.

"I was under the impression that they were a bit more...masculine." answered Sakura.

"It's so hilarious to watch them scream like that." stated Gajeel.

"Er...yeah." nodded the kunoichi.

The guards began to run away.

"That's right! Run back to your mothers!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

"They're probably going to send in for reinforcements..." warned Sakura.

"Big deal! I can take on everyone in this tower!" bellowed Gajeel.

Of course, as soon as Gajeel had said that, more guards appeared.

However, they appeared to be more heavily armored, as they were carrying shields.

Gajeel tried tossing knives at them, but they blocked the knives using said shields.

Curiously enough, their weapons appeared to be enchanted.

"I guess these must be higher-ranking guards..." noted Sakura.

"We're the squires!" exclaimed the squires.

"So...the guards our comrades encountered earlier...they were initiates?" questioned the kunoichi.

The squires nodded.

"Why are Jellal's minions medieval-themed?" inquired Gajeel.

"I don't know...this tower happens to be rather medieval in itself...though it does happens to be magical." questioned Sakura.

Once again, Gajeel tried to eat their weapons...

...only to get hit by a burst of magical energy for his trouble.

"Yeowch!" exclaimed the knight.

"It appears that these guards aren't going to be so easy to defeat..." noted Sakura.

"Bring it on!" belllowed Gajeel.

Immediately, he turned his arm into a club and began to whack the guards into submission.

However, he ended up being hit in the face for his trouble.

"Ergh!" screeched the iron dragonslayer.

"Would you...like me to heal you?" asked Sakura.

"I can take on everyone in this tower myself...but sure." answered Gajeel.

Oddly enough, he actually seemed to enjoy having Sakura touch him.

"Are you...enjoying working with me?" inquired the kunoichi.

"I don't really need your help...but yes!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

"That's nice." answered Sakura.

Personally she enjoyed working with Gajeel too...though she wished that he wasn't so arrogant. She began to doubt that he could take on everyone in this tower by himself. There were so many zealots and so many guards...it was a good thing they brought as many people as they could.

Immediately, Sakura began to punch the squires into submission, causing him to collapse on the floor.

"Where are the slaves?" questioned the kunoichi.

On cue, they noticed some of the slaves dusting off the floor.

"Hey there! We're here to free you!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Free us? Um, sure." answered the slaves.

Immediately, the slaves began to exit the tower.

As it turned out, Sakura had built a boat for them made out of ice.

"Well, that takes care of them...but I think there might be more slaves in the tower." said Sakura.

"Why did we have to get stuck babysitting?" inquired Gajeel.

"What's so bad about children? You were a child once." answered the kunoichi.

"I don't remember it too well..." noted the iron dragonslayer.

"Yeah...there are some memories in my childhood I don't care to remember either...people kept making fun of my large forehead..." spoke Sakura.

"I actually like your large forehead..." questioned Gajeel.

Sakura began to blush.

"Um...thank you?" answered the kunoichi.

"You're welcome?" shrugged the iron dragonslayer.

Immediately, Gajeel began to sniff around to search for more slaves.

There were a few more right down the corridor.

"How many slaves are there in this tower?" questioned the iron dragonslayer.

"Considering how large this tower is...probably quite a few." answered Sakura.

Gajeel let out a sigh. How many kids was he going to have to babysit?

And to think he wasn't going to get paid.

He got to work with Sakura though, so at least that was something.

Suddenly, they found themselves being attacked by hobgoblins.

"Funny...I played football with a goblin the other day..." noted Gajeel.

However, they were much more aggressive than their goblin cousins that Naruto had encountered back on his first mission for Fairy Tail.

Speaking of which, there were also some goblins present...though they fled like cowards when they realized how strong Sakura and Gajeel were.

"This mission is so much fun...even if I have to babysit." noted the iron dragonslayer.

"Good to see you're enjoying this." answered Sakura.

"You bet I am!" exclaimed Gajeel.

_Outside the Tower Of Heaven..._

"So...our mission is to serve as a distraction, right?" asked Ino.

"I think that was what Shikamaru told us..." nodded Choji.

"How do we do that?" inquired Happy.

"Well, there appears to be some rocks nearby." noted Ino.

"That seems as good of a strategy as any." shrugged Choji.

Immediately, the trio began to toss stones at the Tower Of Heaven.

"How long do we have to keep doing this?" asked Happy.

"Until everyone else is done with their missions, I suppose." answered the kunoichi.

Sure enough, a guard initiate came by to pay them a visit.

"Hey! You can't just go around and toss stones at our tower like that!" bellowed the guard.

Immediately, Happy hit him on the head with a rock...and knocked him out cold.

"So far, so good." stated Ino.

Once again, they began to toss rocks at the tower.

This time, a troll came by.

"What gives?" asked the troll.

Ino, Choji, and Happy tossed rocks at the troll...

...only for him to regenerate from his wounds.

"Oh dear..." murmured Choji.

"I'll kill you!" screeched the troll.

"I thought these only existed at internet forums..." questioned Ino.

"Apparently not." answered Choji.

If only they would stay there.

Immediately, the troll punched Ino in the face.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

This made Choji rather angry, and he latched onto the troll using vines.

"Let go!" demanded the troll.

Ino then followed by punching the troll rapidly in the face, knocking him out as well. Much like Jet and Droy, Ino and Choji worked very well together.

Of course, this made Happy feel a bit like a fifth wheel...or in this case, a third wheel on a bicycle. If only he had fancy powers like the rest of his comrades.

Then again, having the ability to fly was no small coop in itself.

As usual, the three of them began to toss rocks at the tower.

However, they began to wonder if they should try something different.

"Maybe we could pose as pizza delivery people?" asked Ino.

"Well, we do have some leftover pizza..." noted Choji.

Immediately, he pulled out a pizza box.

"Now let's drug the pizza so that everyone eating it will pass out!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

"But I wanted to eat some of the pizza..." complained Happy.

"Sorry...I don't think cats should be eating pizza anyway..." questioned Ino.

"Awww!" pouted the Exceed.

Immediately, they began to knock on the door...making sure to hide the unconscious guard and the troll as they did so.

This time, a squire guard showed up.

"What do we have here?" asked the squire.

"We've got pizza for you!" exclaimed Ino.

Immediately, the squire picked up the pizza. He did not recall ordering pizza that day...but he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Thank you!" bellowed the guard.

Stepping inside the tower, he decided to share it with his friends...unaware that he had fallen for a trap.

"So far, so good!" exclaimed Ino.

"Now what should we do?" asked Choji.

"Dress up as clowns and perform a circus act?" shrugged Happy.

Ino and Choji nodded.

"I was...joking." answered the Exceed.

Immediately, they began to inflate a big top, which attracted the guards' attention.

"What's going on out here?" asked one of the guard initiates.

"It's working! Keep going!" bellowed Choji.

Ino, Choji, and Happy continued inflating the big top.

This time, a few zealots began to show up.

"I want to join the circus...I want to join the circus..." murmured one of Zeref's loyal worshippers.

Within a few minutes, the big top was completely inflated.

"Now then...what should we do next?" asked Ino.

"Let's put on our clown costumes, shall we?" inquired Choji.

Happy sighed as he put on a jester hat. Why did people take everything he said so literally?

Sure enough, they began to apply makeup to their faces.

"Where are the clown noses?" asked Choji.

"They're right over there." answered Ino.

Immediately, Choji put on his clown nose and began to honk it.

"Clowns always gave me nightmares back when I was a kitten..." complained Happy.

"Relax! We're going to try not to scare anyone!" exclaimed Ino.

"I hope not..." answered the Exceed.

Immediately, the trio stepped out of the big top.

Already, the zealots and security guards were pulling out bags of popcorn.

Some of the acolytes and the squires were suspicious...but other than that, nobody suspected a thing.

The trio began to juggle some fruits and vegetables, trying to juggle as many as they possibly could.

"This is fun!" exclaimed Ino.

"I...guess." answered the Exceed.

"We should do things like this sometime." noted Choji.

Ino nodded in agreement.

_At the Tower Of Heaven harbor..._

"So...we need to prevent our enemies from receiving reinforcements...right?" inquired Jet.

"That's what Shikamaru told us." nodded Levy.

Sure enough, another ship was arriving.

"I take it we need to make it sink?" asked Droy.

"Yes." nodded Levy.

Immediately, she began to write down the word "Fire."

Sure enough, the ship burst into flames.

"Well, that takes care of one of those ships..." noted the letter mage.

"Maybe we should try to destroy the entire harbor?" asked Droy.

"That...actually seems like a good idea." nodded Jet.

Immediately, Droy began to expand himself like a balloon and began to destroy everything.

However, their efforts were not unnoticed by the sailors, who pulled out some heavy-looking anchors.

"Stop that!" bellowed one of the sailors.

They began to pummel Droy into submission.

"I could use a little help here..." asked the plant mage.

"On it!" exclaimed Jet.

Immediately, he transferred his mind to one of the sailors, and began to attack them.

"What's going on?!" exclaimed the sailors.

Apparently, one of them had turned turncoat.

Immediately, the sailors began to turn on each other.

"These psychic abilities are so useful." thought Jet.

Personally he was starting to wish that he had acquired these abilities sooner...imagine what he would be able to do once he had completely mastered them.

However, there was a problem...how were his comrades going to tell him apart from the other sailors? Now that he thought of it...they all looked rather similar...as evil minions tended to do.

Shrugging, he decided to return to his regular body for the time being.

"That's better." spoke Jet.

Personally, he wondered if he could use this to spy on Levy.

Immediately, he began to blush.

However, he eventually decided that he respected Levy as a person and that he should not do so.

Besides...he had seen her wink at him the other day.

Immediately, the sailors boarded one of their boats and began to shoot cannonballs at them.

Fortunately, Levy's shadow helped protect them from the blasts.

However, they were knocked off their feet regardless.

"It looks like they're pulling out the big guns..." noted Droy.

"Considering the threat we are to this harbor...that's not much of a surprise." acknowledged Levy.

"I'll say!" exclaimed Jet.

Once again, Levy tried setting the ship on fire...

...only for one of the cannonballs to knock the pen out of her hand.

"Darn it! Now how I am I supposed to write?" asked the letter mage.

Levy's shadow handed the pen back to her.

"Thanks..." answered the blue-haired girl. She was a bit dismayed that being Shikamaru's interdimensional partner had turned her into a slacker...but having a shadow that would do her bidding was very nice.

Once again, she began to write the word "Fire", setting the battleship on fire.

"You're sinking our battleship!" screamed one of the sailors.

"Was there anything else you thought we were trying to do?" asked Levy.

"Oh, right..." acknowledged another sailor.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the sailors were putting out the fire. They had brought many emergency buckets.

"Things aren't going to be that easy, are they?" asked Droy.

Levy shook her head.

"I wonder if I should board that ship and try to take down as many sailors as I can..." questioned Jet.

"I know! Why don't you try transferring your mind to the sailor steering the boat?" asked Levy.

"Good idea." nodded the psychic mage.

Immediately, he used Ino's mind transfer jutsu to do just that.

He then began to steer the battleship towards a nearby rock.

"Where are you going?!" exclaimed one of the sailors.

He crashed the ship into a rock, causing extensive damage to the hull.

"Aargh!" bellowed the unfortunate seamen.

He switched his mind back with himself shortly afterwards.

Sure enough, the ship was beginning to sink.

"Yes!" cheered Levy.

However, another ship was on its way.

"I guess we better hurry." noted Droy.

"It might have more sailors on it..." acknowledged Jet.

Suddenly, a piranha bit Levy on the foot.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the letter mage.

"Are there dangerous sea creatures in the water?" inquired Droy.

Suddenly, a tentacle latched onto him.

"I'll take that as a yes..." answered the plant mage.

"Let him go!" demanded Jet.

Unfortunately, it appeared that they were now under attack by a variety of sea creatures.

Oddly enough, they seemed to be mutated in some way.

Who was dumping chemicals into the water? Levy was pretty sure that there was a law against that.

Deciding that she needed to stay focused for the time being, she decided that she could ponder that later.

Immediately, she began to write down the word "Lightning".

_At the upper levels of the tower..._

"So...Shikamaru wants me to work alone...well, I do happen to be a one-man army." noted Kimimaro.

Sure enough, Shikamaru had directed him to where the guards and zealots were most abundant.

Immediately, he was attacked by a cyclops.

"Raarrrghh!" exclaimed the one-eyed monster.

"A cyclops?" questioned Kimimaro.

Suddenly, he attempted to smash him with his club.

Fortunately, he was quick and leapt out of the way.

"You're an awfully strong fellow, aren't you?" asked Kimimaro.

"Me actually weak by cyclops standards..." explained the cyclops.

"Sorry to hear that." sympathized the bone ninja.

"Me crush you!" bellowed the ogre-like creature.

Kimimaro stabbed the cyclops in the eye, causing him to cry like a little girl and run away.

"I still feel a bit sorry for him..." noted the last member of the Kaguya clan.

Once again, he found himself being attacked.

"What's this now?" asked the former Sound ninja.

This time, he was under attack...by an adorable kitten.

"Seriously?" inquired Kimimaro, raising an eyebrow.

An evil kitten that could shoot deadly laser beams out of his eyes.

"Oh." comprehended the bone ninja. That made sense.

"Meow!" purred the evil kitten.

"Who gave this kitten the ability to shoot lasers out of his eyes?" asked Kimimaro.

He was starting to wonder if there was some sort of mad scientist at the Tower Of Heaven. It did seem technologically advanced even if the interior was old-fashioned.

There wasn't really much of an explanation for an evil laser-shooting kitten other than that.

Normally he wouldn't attack a kitten (even when he was in his prime), but he decided he needed to defend himself.

So, he kicked the kitten out the window.

"Meow!" screamed the evil kitten as he fell outside the Tower Of Heaven.

"I'm sure he'll survive...he still has eight lives left." noted Kimimaro.

At that very moment, several initiate guards and zealots came in.

"And here's the welcoming party." he thought.

"Get the bone man!" screamed one of the guards.

"I'm going to make a xylophone out of his ribcages..." murmured one of the zealots.

"Sheesh." said Kimimaro upon hearing what the zealot intended to do to him.

Then again, he could pull out his ribcage and use it as a xylophone without mutilating himself.

Pulling out a bone and using it as a sword, he began to slash the guards into submission.

He may not have his Cursed Seal Of Heaven anymore...but he was a force to be reckoned with nonetheless.

If only Orochimaru had treated him as a partner rather than simply a means to an end. He always thought of him as a father figure...but clearly he thought wrong.

"Darn it, Orochimaru...why did you have to use me as a pawn?" questioned Kimimaro.

These thoughts continued to fill his head as he continued fighting.

"Well, time to impress my fangirls..." noted the bone ninja.

Immediately, he began to take his shirt off.

"Hey! No shirts, no shoes, no service!" screamed one of the guards.

"I don't actually work here." explained Kimimaro.

"Oh, right...well, you're still not allowed to take your shirt off here!" bellowed the security guard.

"Go ahead...try and dress me. I dare you." answered the bone ninja.

Immediately, the guards shot him...and he found himself wearing a pink bra.

"Dang! This actually looks pretty good on me! Now if only were a girl..." exclaimed Kimimaro.

The guards began to sweatdrop.

_Elsewhere..._

Curious, Jellal noticed that Naruto was still snooping throughout the tower.

Not only that, but he had taken out several of his initiates.

"Erza, I'm coming for you!" exclaimed the chunin.

He let out a sigh.

"What should I do with him?" asked Jellal.

"Allow me! I'll take care of zis dummkopf!" said a voice.

Looking around, Jellal noticed that there appeared to be a mad scientist in the camera monitor room with him.

He was wearing glasses and a lab coat, as well as a pair of black gloves and black boots. He also had blonde hair, and for some strange reason had a picture of a bunny on his labcoat.

"I don't remember you being in the Tower Of Heaven arc...then again, I don't remember the two demon bodyguards being here either." questioned the space mage.

The two demons scratched their heads curiously.

"My name is Dr. Usagi! Allow me to take care of zis! He shall be an excellent test subject! Mwahahaha!" bellowed Dr. Usagi.

"Very well." answered Jellal.

Immediately, Dr. Usagi left to go deal with Naruto.

"Well, that takes care of him." spoke the space mage.

Suddenly, he noticed that Erza had escaped from her prison cell.

"Oh dear...it seems I should have kept her well-guarded..." noted Jellal.

Immediately, he communicated with Dr. Usagi on his intercom.

"Can you recapture her too while you're at it? I don't want her escaping." asked the space mage.

"Yes! She shall be an excellent test subject as well! I can't vait!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"Sheesh...first the two demons and now a mad scientist. What's next? A monkey playing a tuba?" inquired Jellal.

Suddenly, he began to hear a tuba playing.

Jellal groaned.

_What a big chapter this turned out to be. In the next chapter, Naruto will encounter Dr. Usagi...and his twisted experiments, of course._

_Oh, and he will reunite with Erza. Hooray!_


	41. Chapter 41: Mad Science

Ninja Tail

_In this chapter...Naruto's going to continue his journey to rescue Erza...and wouldn't you know it, he's going to get reunited with her! Whoopee!_

_But first he's going to have a chance encounter with Dr. Usagi._

**Chapter 41: Mad Science**

After dealing with some acolytes (who nearly turned him into a mouse), Naruto was feeling rather confident in himself.

Surely he could rescue Erza, right? She was counting on him...and quite frankly, so was Fairy Tail.

Speaking of Fairy Tail, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that his friends were in the tower with him, helping him defeat Jellal and his cronies.

Immediately, a smile appeared on his face.

Then again, it was probably just wishful thinking.

However, at that very moment...Naruto encountered something rather...strange.

For some strange reason, there were two robots making their way towards him.

"Huh?" asked the chunin.

Immediately, the robots scanned some nearby guards.

Acquiring their genetic signature, they were able to determine that they were friends rather than foes.

"Uh-oh...it looks like they're on Jellal's side..." noted Naruto.

Sure enough, one of the robots began to scan him.

They recognized him as an intruder...and pulled out some machine guns.

Naruto gulped.

"Prepare to be terminated." said one of the robots.

"They can talk?" asked the chunin.

Frantically, Naruto ducked for cover to avoid getting shot.

He then hit one of the robots with his Rasengan, causing it to fall over. By the looks of it, it had been badly damaged.

Of course, he probably could have used his new Twin Rasengan technique...but he wanted to conserve his chakra for later.

The remaining robot took its partner to the repair ward.

"Well, that was rather convenient for me..." noted Naruto.

However, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that there were more robots were that came from.

"Hmm..." thought the chunin.

If so, he was going to have to stay on his toes.

Personally, he was a bit surprised that he was dealing with homicidal robots...considering that he typically only fought them in video games.

Then again, this was starting to remind him of a video game.

"Am I stuck in some sort of video game world?" questioned Naruto.

Shrugging, he decided to continue looking for Erza.

Suddenly, he heard some evil laughter.

"Who's there?" asked the chunin.

"It is I! Dr. Usagi!" bellowed a nearby voice.

"Hmm?" questioned Naruto.

Looking around, he discovered that there was a mad scientist nearby.

"Oh brother..." murmured the chunin.

"So, you thought you could snoop around zis tower whenever you felt like it, did you? Vell, you thought wrong!" bellowed Dr. Usagi.

"Oh dear.." thought Naruto. Apparently, he was in cahoots with Jellal.

Immediately, two more robots appeared to attack the chunin.

"Get him, my mechanical monstrosities!" exclaimed the scientist.

"Two more robots? Well, I already managed to take down one of them..." noted Naruto.

However, these two more robots appeared to be rather aggressive, as they wasted no time in attacking.

"Give it up! Zhey have state-of-ze-art technology! I suggest zat you surrender! Maybe zat way I'll go easy on you!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"I'm not desperate yet." answered the chunin.

"Soon, you will be! Hahahahaha!" laughed the mad doctor.

Immediately, he ran away, leaving Naruto alone to deal with the robots.

"Weirdo." murmured the former jinchuriki.

Fortunately, he was able to quickly reduce the robots to scrap metal.

"He's going to have to do better than that..." thought Naruto.

Curious, he began to look around, and noticed that there appeared to be more robots up ahead.

"Well, time to send more robots to the scrapyard." noted the ninja.

Still, there didn't seem to be any sign of Erza.

Where exactly was she?

_Meanwhile..._

Lucy and Shikamaru continued flipping through the pages, hoping to find more information about the tower and Jellal.

As they did so, the former noticed that Kurama was giggling.

"You're having a field day now that I'm wearing a bandeau, aren't you?" inquired Lucy.

**"You bet I am!" **exclaimed Kurama.

"Well, anything to keep you pacified." stated the current jinchuriki of Kurama.

Something told her that he was going to pray for her to suffer clothing damage every time she went on a mission.

_Dear Diary,_

_What's this? It appears that Zeref wants me to bring him back from the dead!_

"Bring him back from the dead? Is that even possible?" questioned Lucy.

"I don't know..." answered Shikamaru.

"I wonder if I could do that someday..." noted the kunoichi.

"You probably shouldn't...you might end up creating zombies..." questioned the shadow ninja.

"You're probably right." nodded the jinchurki.

Once again, they began to flip through the pages.

This time they were attacked...by a giant spider.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Lucy.

"This isn't good..." murmured Shikamaru.

Immediately, they began to wonder how that spider had gotten so big. It appeared that they may have a mad scientist on their hands.

Sure enough, the giant spider wrapped them up in webbing, trapping them both in a cocoon.

Once again, Lucy and Shikamaru began to blush upon realizing how tightly they were tied together.

**"You do realize that I'm eventually getting out of here, right?" **asked Kurama.

Immediately, the giant spider left to go look for more victims to add to her web. Apparently, she didn't look for blood when she was thirsty.

"So...should we try to free ourselves?" inquired Lucy.

"In a minute..." answered Shikamaru.

"Heh heh...yeah...that sounds like a plan." nodded the kunoichi.

Shrugging, the two of them decided to relax in their surprisingly comfortable cocoon.

"Where do you think that giant spider is going?" questioned Lucy.

"It's probably going off to hunt down our friends..." noted Shikamaru.

"That's not good..." thought the kunoichi.

"We might need to find a way to get ourselves out of here..." answered the shadow ninja.

"I'm not really in a hurry, but sure..." nodded Lucy.

Immediately, she pulled out a kunai and began cutting against the webbing. Thankfully, it wasn't resistant to kunai like Kidomaru's spider webbing was.

However, it was going to take them a while to break free.

In the process, Lucy ended up touching Shikamaru's hand.

"Whoops!" exclaimed the kunoichi.

Shikamaru's face turned red.

**"Lucy's got a boyfriend, Lucy's got a boyfriend!" **taunted Kurama.

"Real mature, Kurama." answered Lucy.

**"Search your feelings. You know it to be true." **stated the nine-tailed fox.

"Very funny." said the jinchuriki, rolling her eyes.

"Is your nine-tailed fox acting up again?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yes, he is." nodded Lucy.

"Being in this tower must make him feel excited." answered the shadow ninja.

"Thank goodness that giant spider doesn't appear to be poisonous..." noted the kunoichi.

"Still...who do you think engineered that giant spider?" inquired Shikamaru.

"Probably a scientist with way too much time on their hands." stated Lucy.

"Yeah...probably." nodded the Nara clan member.

Fortunately for Lucy and Shikamaru, they managed to break their arms free.

Immediately, the latter began to stretch out their arms.

"It's a shame...I was actually thinking about going to sleep in there..." complained Shikamaru.

"But we have a mission to do." answered Lucy.

"Oh, right...how could I forget about that?" questioned the male ninja.

"It was starting to slip my mind too." noted the kunoichi.

This time, Shikamaru's foot touched Lucy's leg.

Immediately, she began to blush.

"This giant spider is really setting off our hormones..." noted Shikamaru.

"Yes...she is." nodded Lucy.

"You think our friends are going to encounter that thing?" inquired the shadow ninja.

"Possibly." answered the kunoichi.

Eventually, they were able to break free, and they were once again able to examine the diary.

_Dear Diary,_

_What's this? It appears that Zeref wants me to use the Tower Of Heaven to resurrect him. How about that?_

"So that's why he's holed up at a tower like this..." noted Lucy.

Flipping through the pages...they were attacked...

...by a robot.

"Intruders are reading Master Jellal's diary...they must be terminated." said the robot.

"Oh dear..." murmured Shikamaru.

"They have robots in this tower?" questioned Lucy curiously.

"Apparently, they do." answered the shadow ninja.

Sure enough, the robot began to open fire at them, forcing them to take cover.

"They seem to have guns!" exclaimed Lucy.

"I wish I had a bulletproof vest..." noted Shikamaru.

"Me too." nodded the kunoichi. Maybe she could go to the store and buy them if they successfully completed the mission?

That seemed like a plan.

_Meanwhile..._

"Did you take care of the boy?" asked Jellal.

"Well, I sent my robots after him." explained Dr. Usagi.

"Well, they're getting slaughtered out there." explained the dark mage.

"What?" asked the mad scientist.

Jellal's red demon bodyguard directed Dr. Usagi to the security cameras.

"Oh no! You're right! The robots aren't working at all! Zis is bad!" exclaimed the mad doctor.

"Do you have anything other than robots?" asked Jellal.

"Well, I did release a giant spider from my laboratory..." explained Dr. Usagi.

"You have a laboratory? Where?" inquired the dark mage.

"Deep below ze Tower Of Heaven!" exclaimed the mad scientist.

"I didn't know that was there..." questioned Jellal.

"I just built it yesterday! Zere I can do my research!" bellowed the scientist.

"That sounds like a good place to do it..." noted the mage.

"It certainly is! I've got plenty more experiments where zat came from!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"That's a good sign." acknowledged Jellal.

"Right now I'm trying to bring back ze dead back to life!" bellowed the mad scientist.

"That's what we're all trying to do." said the space mage.

The black demon nodded.

"I found a corpse lying outside ze Tower Of Heaven!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"A corpse? What was that doing there?" inquired Jellal.

The red demon shrugged.

Immediately, Dr. Usagi pulled out the corpse, causing both of Jellal's demon bodyguards to cover their noses.

Sure enough, it was surrounded by flies, and appeared to be decaying.

Jellal felt mildly disturbed.

"I have no idea! But I figured it was good of a test subject as any. I shall bring zis bag of bones back to life using lightning! Hahahahaha!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"Right...can you take it out of my room? It smells really bad." complained Jellal.

The two demon bodyguards nodded.

"Yes yes, of course! I was going to do zat anyway!" bellowed the mad scientist.

"Good." answered the space mage.

Immediately, Dr. Usagi took the dead body towards his laboratory.

"Dr. Usagi may have a few test tubes short of a chemistry set...but at least he appears to be a valuable asset." noted Jellal.

Curious, he looked at the basement to see if Dr. Usagi's claims were true.

Sure enough, he did seem to have a fair amount of experiments.

"Not bad..." thought Jellal.

Dr. Usagi immediately entered the laboratory.

Oddly enough, each of the experiments seemed to adore him, as they all became rather excited upon realizing that he had entered.

Pressing a few buttons, he began to release some of them.

"Is he sure about this?" questioned Jellal.

Then again, they did appear to be on Dr. Usagi's side (and by extension his), so he decided he shouldn't complain too much.

Still, he had to wonder if he had actually gone to medical school. He didn't see a medical license everywhere in that laboratory.

"Hmm..." thought Jellal.

"You'll keep me safe if Naruto decides to attack me again...right?"

The two demon bodyguards nodded.

Jellal let out a sigh of relief. To be honest, he was starting to get a bit worried. Naruto seemed rather strong.

Curious, he decided to see how Erza was doing.

Immediately, he began to get worried...he and Erza were heading towards the exact same location.

It was only a matter of time before they were reunited.

Hopefully, Dr. Usagi would be able to deal with Naruto before then.

"The boy's in good hands...right?" asked Jellal.

Shrugging, he decided that maybe it was time for him to hire some mercenaries. He happened to have quite a few jewels in his pockets at the moments...so maybe it was time to hire them.

"Who should I hire?" asked the space mage.

Immediately, he pulled out a phonebook detailing a wide variety of assassins.

Shrugging, he decided to hire Trinity Raven. Why do you ask? He thought that the name suited him.

Picking up the phone, he began to dial their phone number.

"How may I help you?" asked Ikaruga.

"I'm looking for mages to protect my tower...I've gotten a few intruders as of late and I was wondering if you could straighten things out." inquired Jellal.

"Sure." nodded the samurai mage.

"Thank you." answered the leader of the Tower Of Heaven army.

Sure enough, Ikaruga began to counter her two partners, Vidaldus Taka and Fukuro.

"Are you ready for an opportunity of a lifetime?" asked the samurai.

Fukuro nodded.

"You bet I am!" exclaimed Vidaldus.

"Alright then...let's get going." said Ikaruga.

Immediately, the three of them sped off towards the Tower Of Heaven.

Strangely enough, it wasn't too far from their hideout.

_Meanwhile..._

Natsu and Hinata heard an inhuman screech...and wondered where it was coming from.

As it turned out, it was none other than the giant spider.

"Oh dear..." murmured Natsu.

Apparently, someone had sent her to stop them from making fires.

Immediately, the giant spider began to spew webbing at Natsu...

...who immediately burned it away with his fire abilities.

"Well, looks like we don't have to worry about her tying us up with her webbing..." noted Hinata.

Personally, this reminded her of her battle with Kidomaru.

Realizing that using her webbing on Natsu wasn't going to do any good, she decided to try crushing him instead.

"Look out!" warned Hinata.

Fortunately, Natsu was able to move out of the way.

However, the giant spider was still attacking them.

"How did she get so big?" inquired the male dragonslayer.

"I don't know." answered Hinata.

Personally she wondered if she was going to have nightmares about this if they ever made it back to Fairy Tail with Erza. Then again, she didn't get scared too easily these days.

Immediately, Natsu punched the spider in the face, causing her to recoil.

However, she was beginning to lay eggs.

"Uh-oh! I think she's pregnant!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Who impregnated her then?" asked Natsu.

"I don't know...don't ask me." answered the female dragonslayer.

Sure enough, the eggs were hatching into itsy bitsy spiders...that wanted to bite Natsu and Hinata in the face.

Fortunately, they weren't too smart...as they were charging straight towards Hinata's fire barrier.

"Um...I would try to put out the fire first." suggested Hinata.

The itsy bitsy spiders seemed rather confused.

"You...don't know how to put out a fire?" questioned the kunoichi.

The itsy bitsy spiders shrugged.

"Well, you should probably learn that...it would do you a lot of good in the future." stated Hinata.

The itsy bisty spiders decided that maybe they should call 911 instead.

In the meantime, Natsu was still fighting the giant spider.

"I am not spider food!" exclaimed the male dragonslayer.

The giant spider wondered if maybe there was something else on the menu.

Surely there was a mage out there that was less feisty than Natsu was.

Curious, she noticed that her offspring were completely unable to attack Hinata due to her fire barrier.

Sighing, she decided to leave the Tower Of Heaven and head elsewhere.

"Well, looks like we're doing pretty good so far." noted Hinata.

"The tower is burning!" cheered Natsu.

"It sure is." nodded the daughter of Hiashi Hyuga.

Still, they began to wonder how their comrades were doing.

Surely they were doing their jobs well too, right? They seemed to be just fine over their end, considering how much of the tower was now ablaze.

"Our mission is to keep causing chaos, right?" asked Natsu.

"I believe so, yes." answered Hinata.

"Then let's keep burning things!" exclaimed the male dragonslayer.

"Of course." agreed the fire kunoichi.

The more of the tower they set on fire, the better.

After all...that was what fire dragonslayers were for.

"Sheesh...the tower really is starting to smoulder." noted Hinata.

Immediately, one of the zealots began to dial 911.

"Oh no, you don't." stated the kunoichi.

Quickly, she tossed a fireball at the telephone, burning it.

"What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" asked the zealot.

"Scream like a little girl?" inquired Natsu.

Immediately, the zealot began to scream like a little girl.

"I was just joking." stated the male dragonslayer.

"I'm a girl and not even I scream that high." noted Hinata.

The zealot sweatdropped.

"Do you always scream like that?" asked Natsu.

The zealot nodded.

"That must be embarrasing..." noted Hinata.

The zealot nodded once again.

"Hmm..." thought the fire kunoichi.

Immediately, the zealot ran out of the tower in terror.

"Alright! It looks like we're causing them to retreat!" exclaimed Natsu.

"Yes...but our mission isn't over yet. Let's keep burning the tower!" commanded Hinata.

"Yes, of course!" nodded the fire mage.

Once again, the duo resumed their mission to cause chaos.

So far, they seemed to be doing their job very well...if the zealot was anything to go by.

Personally they wondered if even the fire department could stop them now. Then again, they didn't know any mages that happened to be firefighters, though they personally happened to know a water mage.

Suddenly, a few initiate guards appeared...and they were carrying water balloons.

"Put out the fire!" exclaimed one of the guards.

'I don't think so..." answered Hinata.

Together, Natsu and Hinata tossed fireballs at the guards.

However, at that very moment, a robot came by and began shooting at Hinata.

Unfortunately, it was able to shoot above her fire barrier.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Hinata.

"You OK?" asked Natsu.

"I think so." nodded the Hyuga kunoichi.

However, the robot was focusing fire on Natsu next.

"Where are those robots coming from?" inquired the fire mage.

"I don't know...but something tells me that they're going to be a problem for us." noted Hinata.

"I guess so..." nodded Natsu.

_Meanwhile..._

Naruto ended up encountering Dr. Usagi once again...and he began to sigh.

"Not you again." answered the chunin.

Curious, he noticed that there was a corpse on an operating table nearby. For some strange reason, it happened to have green skin and screws on its head. Did Dr. Usagi like playing with corpses?

If so, he was feeling rather creeped out.

"What are you up to this time?" asked Naruto.

"I'm going to bring life back to ze dead!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"Alright then..." nodded the chunin.

"Meet Clobberstein!" bellowed the mad scientist.

"Clobberstein? You mean like Frankenstein?" asked Naruto.

"Yes! Zat is right!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"I see that you like watching horror movies..." noted the chunin.

"I sure do! Zhey are awesome!" bellowed the mad scientist.

"Well, I have watched a few myself." answered Naruto. The last one he watched made him soil his pants.

Immediately, Dr. Usagi began to zap the corpse with an electrical device...which injected about a thousand volts into it.

"You sure you aren't going to fry it?" asked the former jinchuriki.

"I know vhat I'm doing!" exclaimed the mad scientist.

"I hope so." answered Naruto.

Sure enough, the corpse was beginning to show signs of movement.

"Oh boy." thought the chunin. It looked like Dr. Usagi's invention was working.

Immediately, Clobberstein rose from his operating table.

"He's alive! Alive! Vhich is more than I vill be able to say about you in just a few minutes! Hahahahaha!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

Clobberstein began to crack his knuckles.

Once again, Dr. Usagi fled for the hills.

"What a nutcase." thought Naruto. Personally he wondered if he should try chasing after him.

But for now, he had to deal with what was in front of him.

Immediately, Clobberstein began to attack Naruto with lightning generated from the screws on his head.

"Yikes!" exclaimed the chunin. Unfortunately, it appeared that Dr. Usagi had given his creation the ability to control electricity...which of course he was using as a deadly weapon.

Frantically, he avoided the lightning strikes by jumping across the room. Unfortunately, Clobberstein appeared to be one tough cookie.

Immediately, he went over and punched him in the face, sending him flying.

"Aaugh!" exclaimed Naruto.

He let out a sigh. Things were so much easier back when he still had his nine-tailed fox...whether he liked it or not.

Shrugging, he decided to summon a Celestial Spirit.

This time, he ended up summoning what appeared to be a snowman.

Curious, he noticed that he had used a silver key this time, rather than the golden keys that he had been using earlier.

"How many keys does Lucy have?" questioned Naruto. She certainly appeared to have a lot of them.

"Hi there!" exclaimed Plue.

"Strange...I thought you were in a different anime...did you use an interdimensional portal too?" inquired the chunin.

"That's because my anime was made by the same author as Fairy Tail!" bellowed the snowman.

"That explains it." nodded Naruto. Personally he wondered if the two animes were somehow connected.

Immediately, Plue began to attack Clobberstein...

...only to get, well, clobbered.

Plue quickly deflated.

"Nooooo!" screamed the chunin.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Plue was no match for Clobberstein.

"Speak to me!" screeched Naruto.

"Don't worry...I'll be back...in the next arc..." said Plue.

"Why?!" exclaimed the jinchuriki.

Immediately, Plue disappeared in a burst of yellow energy.

"I'll make you pay!" screamed Naruto.

Trying to avenge his comrade, Naruto hit Clobberstein with his Twin Rasengan.

This seemed to be effective, as he heard the science experiment grunt in pain.

However, he threw the operating table at Naruto in retaliation, who just barely avoided it.

"Sheesh! This guy is strong!" exclaimed the chunin.

He was starting to wonder if he need some help.

Frantically, he tried summoning another spirit...

...only for Clobberstein to take the purse containing his summoner keys.

"Oh no..." thought Naruto.

Immediately, he tossed the bag aside where he couldn't reach it.

"This isn't good." stated the chunin. How was he going to fight the beast without his summoner keys?

Getting desperate, he tried summoning some clones.

Unfortunately, Clobberstein took them all out with his lightning.

"Is this the end?" thought Naruto.

However, at that very moment, help arrived.

Suddenly, Clobberstein found himself being stabbed with a sword.

"Hmm?" asked Naruto.

This was then followed by him being slashed.

"Is that..." inquired Naruto curiously.

Finally, Clobberstein found himself being stabbed through the head...and then he was a goner.

Clobberstein collapsed on the floor...and he realized who his savior was.

"Erza...is that you?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, it's me." answered Erza.

Immediately, he began to hug her tightly.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the knight.

"Thank goodness you're still alive! I was worried that you had already been sacrificed!" bellowed Naruto.

"Thanks for the concern...I broke out of my cell, don't worry." stated the S-Class Mage.

"Let's get out of here!" shouted the chunin.

"About that...I was thinking about confronting Jellal, actually." said Erza.

"Were you now?" asked Naruto.

"Well, he was a childhood friend of mine...so I figured that it was my responsibility to stop him." noted the knight.

"Well, you do have a point..." answered the chunin.

"But since you care about me so much...I guess I should let you tag along." stated Erza.

"Yes!" cheered Naruto.

"Let's go pay him a visit, shall we?" inquired the knight.

"Yes, of course!" nodded the chunin.

Immediately, the duo began to search for Jellal.

_Meanwhile..._

Jellal let out a sigh.

"Vhat's the matter?" asked Dr. Usagi curiously.

"Not only has your experiment been slain...but Erza's reunited with an old friend of hers...now we're going to have to deal with them both." explained the space mage.

"That's not good..." noted the scientist.

Curious, Jellal looked at the camera room, and gasped in surprise.

It appeared that the boy in an orange jumpsuit was just a sign of what's to come.

"Good grief! This tower is filled with intruders! Are there any other experiments you have?" inquired Jellal.

"Vell, zere is one..." explained Dr. Usagi.

Curious, Jellal noticed that there was a large humanoid creature nearby. He appeared to be in a containment pod.

Taking a closer look, he noticed that the creature had glowing red eyes, a claw for a right hand, sharp-looking teeth, and was wearing a black trenchcoat, gloves, and boots.

Nearby was an assortment of weapons...that appeared to be designed specifically for the creature.

"What do you call it?" asked Jellal.

"Vell, I vas originally going to call him Nemesis...but wouldn't you know it, zere was already a creature named that out on the ze black market." explained Dr. Usagi.

"Dang." answered the space mage.

"So...I decided zat I shall call him Avenger instead!" bellowed the scientist.

"That seems as good of a name as any." answered Jellal.

"All zat's left now is to give him some orders, and then ve vill be all set!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"Sounds like a plan." nodded the space mage.

Immediately, Dr. Usagi began to type on a keyboard attached to the container.

He typed down the sentence "HUNT DOWN FAIRY TAIL MEMBERS".

Sure enough, the container began to drain.

Shortly afterwards, Avenger broke out from the glass.

"Fairy...Tail..." murmured Avenger.

"Very good! Be a devil and hunt down ze intruders for us vill you? It vould be much appreciated." answered Dr. Usagi.

Immediately, Avenger began to leave Jellal's room to do as his master ordered him to.

"You think he can pull it off?" asked Jellal.

"I designed him for zat specific purpose...so yes!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"Alright then." nodded the space mage.

Nonetheless, he got the feeling that maybe he should have his henchmen join the fray. Trinity Raven should be at the Tower Of Heaven any second now.

The only question was who should deal with each of the intruders.

"Hmm..." thought Jellal.

For now, he decided to see if Avenger would do the job.

In the meantime, he had another job for Dr. Usagi to do.

"Hey, Dr. Usagi...would you be a dear and recapture Erza for me? As you probably know already, I need to use her to bring Zeref back to life." explained Jellal.

"I am on it, Meister Jellal!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

"By the way, do you happen to be from Germany? I notice that you had a German accent..." answered the space mage.

"Vhy, yes I am!" bellowed the mad scientist.

"Thought so." answered Jellal.

Immediately, Dr. Usagi set out to recapture Erza. Hopefully she would stay in her cell this time.

Then again, probably not.

_Meanwhile..._

"It looks like we've found more slaves." noted Sakura.

Sure enough, there were more slaves nearby. They were currently relaxing in their cells.

Immediately, Gajeel and Sakura began to unlock the doors, causing them to open.

"Hmm?" asked a slave boy curiously.

"You're free to go!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Go on, get out of here!" ordered Gajeel.

"But we don't want to leave..." answered a slave girl.

"Wait, what?" asked the kunoichi.

"How do we know that we can trust you, anyway?" inquired a slave boy.

"What makes you think we're not trustworthy?" asked Sakura.

"Well, you happen to be stripping down in front of us...don't you know that's harmful to minors?" inquired said slave boy.

Suddenly feeling rather embarrassed, Sakura put her clothes back on.

"Not only that...but your partner looks rather scary." noted the slave girl.

"Don't worry...he's a lot nice on the inside than he looks on the outside." answered the kunoichi.

"But he's scowling at me..." complained the slave boy.

"What did he do to you?" asked Sakura.

"He called me ugly!" exclaimed Gajeel.

Sakura sighed.

"Listen, there's no need to worry. We both happen to be part of Fairy Tail...see?" explained Tsunade's apprentice.

Immediately, Sakura and Gajeel showed them their guild marks to show that they could be trusted.

"Well, OK...maybe we can trust you...but we don't want to leave!" exclaimed the slave boy.

"You don't?" asked Sakura.

"Jellal provided us with so many health benefits! Besides, he said that it's a dark and scary world outside!" bellowed the boy.

"Oh please! The world doesn't scare me! If anything it should be afraid of me!" noted Gajeel.

"Well, I can't say the same for the slaves." acknowledged Sakura.

"Meh. I guess they're a bunch of babies." answered the iron dragonslayer.

"Don't worry about it. The world isn't all bad. In fact, there are a lot of good things about it. You should be more idealistic." pointed out the kunoichi.

"Maybe we should...but I'm not sure that it's safe..." noted the slave boy.

At that very moment, several knights burst into the room. By the looks of it, they were the next step up from squires...considering they were dressed in full body armor.

"Step away from the slaves!" exclaimed the knights.

"You might want to run..." warned one of the slave girls.

"Those knights don't scare me! I bet there are little boys underneath that armor!" exclaimed Gajeel.

"Very funny, Gajeel." answered Sakura.

"We're fully grown men!" bellowed one of the knights.

"Oh please! I bet you're still wearing diapers!" exclaimed Gajeel.

Immediately, the knights began to charge towards the iron dragonslayer.

"You sure that was such a good idea?" questioned Sakura.

"Yes, come towards me!" exclaimed Gajeel.

Sure enough, the knights began to lunge towards them.

They had their armor eaten for their trouble.

"Good lord! We're in our underpants!" screamed the knights.

Sakura began to giggle.

Immediately, the slaves began to laugh at the unfortunate soldiers.

The knights ran home to their mothers.

"Well, that was too easy..." noted Gajeel.

"Yeah...it was." answered Sakura.

"We still don't want to leave though." stated the slaves.

Sakura sighed. How was she going to get the slaves to leave the tower?

Immediately, she began to think of what to do.

Finally, she came to a solution.

"Did you know that there's more than one world?" asked the kunoichi.

"What?" asked a slave girl.

"There happens to be another world...one that's populated by ninja rather than mages..." noted Sakura.

"I thought ninjas were only in cartoons..." stated a slave boy.

"Well, not in the world I'm from. I happen to be a ninja myself." answered the kunoichi.

Immediately, she used a transformation jutsu to make herself resemble a slave.

"Wow! You weren't kidding!" bellowed a slave girl.

"Nope, I was not." answered Sakura.

All of a sudden, the slaves wanted to investigate this world for themselves.

"Alright, you have us convinced." said a slave boy.

"Yes!" cheered Sakura.

"We don't have all day. Let's get moving." stated Gajeel.

The slaves immediately nodded, and they began to make their way out of the dungeon.

As they did so, they encountered a robot, who immediately opened fire at Sakura and Gajeel.

However, Gajeel simply opened his mouth and ate the bullets.

"It's rather nifty that's your bulletproof." noted Sakura.

"It sure is!" exclaimed the iron dragonslayer.

Rapidly, Gajeel pounded the robot into scrap metal.

"That tin can was no match for me!" bellowed Gajeel.

"It sure wasn't." nodded Sakura.

_Elsewhere..._

Kimimaro slashed his way through some robots, wondering why exactly were there so many of them. He was under the impression that robots did not grow on trees...at least, trees that weren't mechanical.

Then again, there might be a factory in the tower somewhere. That would make a lot of sense considering that the robots appeared to be mass-produced.

Suddenly, he noticed that some of the robots happened to have blue armor...

...as it turned out, Dr. Usagi had realized that his robots were getting horribly slaughtered, so he decided to build some upgraded ones that could endure and dish out more punishment.

They were more heavily armored...and they happened to be have laser crosshairs for more accurate aiming.

Not only that, but they had more powerful guns that could shoot at a farther distance than the regular robots.

Dr. Usagi referred to them as Version 2.0., due to the fact that they were significant improved over their prototype.

"Looks like the robots are getting upgraded..." noted Kimimaro. Apparently, he wasn't going to be able to destroy the robots so easily anymore.

"We are better than ever." said one of the upgraded robots.

"Dr. Usagi has given us new power." murmured another upgraded robot.

"So that's the man whose building you..." comprehended Kimimaro.

"Prepare to be terminated." stated one of the blue robots.

Sure enough, he was having a harder time dealing with them than the regular ones, as they reacted more quickly to his attacks.

Nonetheless, he was still able to reduce them to scrap metal, though he took a deep breath shortly afterward.

"Hmm...I appear to be bleeding a bit." noted Kimimaro. Did one of the bullets hit him in the shoulder?

Hopefully he wouldn't have to visit the infirmary when the mission was over...he had already been infected by a deadly disease as it was.

At that very moment, several knights appeared...as well as some adept zealots.

Sure enough, they were dressed in red robes, unlike the lesser acolyte zealots that dressed in white.

"Get him!" bellowed one of the knights.

"He must suffer for spilling our blood...he must suffer for spilling our blood..." murmured one of the adept zealots.

Once again, he was having to deal with stronger version of the foes he had faced not too long ago.

"Why are things suddenly getting harder?" questioned Kimimaro. Granted, things had been a bit too easy for him up until recently...but this still intrigued him.

Immediately, the adept zealots began to whistle for initiate zealots to help them defeat the intruder.

Kimimaro sighed. It looked like these particular zealots could call for reinforcements to make life harder for him.

Sure enough, the initiate zealots began to attack Kimimaro...who quickly cut them down.

However, one of the adept zealots attacked him with a lightning bolt spell.

"Taste the power of our magic..." murmured one of the adept zealots as he cast the spell.

"Lousy upgraded enemies..." thought Kimimaro as he evaded the lightning bolt. Apparently, he wasn't the only one that learned from his mistakes before trying again.

Strangely enough, they didn't look much different from the initiates...they just happened to wear different clothing.

Two more Version 2.0 Robots appeared, ready to defend the Tower Of Heaven from the former member of Orochimaru's army.

"Again with the upgraded foes..." murmured the bone ninja, taking cover behind a statue.

At this rate he was going to have to face some Version 3.0 Robots that had been painted red instead of blue.

Once again, he let out a sigh.

Was Jellal just not very creative? He was under the impression that he had more originality than that.

Shrugging, he decided to continue fighting...the more of Jellal's minions he took out the better, right?

He wanted to make things easier for everyone else...namely his friends.

"How many have I taken out so far, anyway? A hundred? A couple hundred? A thousand?" inquired Kimimaro.

He was starting to lose count.

One of the knights swung his sword at Kimimaro, who immediately parried it with a bone sword of his own.

Immediately, he converted his arm into a bone drill and began attacking the knights with it.

Fortunately, their armor wasn't too difficult to cut through, even though it was made of steel.

"Here's hoping that I don't end up spending all my chakra..." noted Kimimaro. Though admittedly he did have large chakra reserves, every ninja had their limit.

If he ran out of chakra, he would be up a creek without a paddle.

_Outside the Tower Of Heaven..._

"So...how long do we have to keep doing this?" asked Jet.

"Until we've rescued Erza, I suppose." answered Levy.

"I wonder how long that's going to be...I'm hungry." stated Droy.

"Sorry to hear that..." sympathized the letter mage.

Suddenly, the water began to bubble.

"Hmm?" questioned Jet.

At that very moment, a sea serpent emerged from the water, causing the trio to scream.

Taking a closer look, Levy noticed that not only did it have sharp fangs, it had green scales protecting it, and unsurprisingly had a rather serpentine tongue. Also, it happened to have glowing red eyes, which unnerved her somewhat.

It did not look friendly at all.

"Uh-oh!" exclaimed Jet. It looked like they were in a heap of trouble. Who would have thought that there were vicious sea serpents in the waters.

"Good grief..." murmured Shikamaru's interdimensional partner. It seemed that they were in a pickle once again.

Immediately, the sea serpent began to spit out destructive water spheres at them.

"Look out!" warned the leader of Team Shadow Gear.

Thankfully, nobody was hit by the destructive water spheres...albeit not from lack of trying.

However, the sea serpent was getting ready for another attack.

"A sea serpent? Sheesh! We must be really unlucky today. This reminds me of a bit when we had that fateful encounter with Gajeel." noted Droy.

"It looks that way." nodded Levy. Were they going to get beaten to a pulp again? Then again, the sea serpent didn't seem as strong as Gajeel was, though it looked rather fierce nonetheless.

"I'm not going to be sea serpent food!" bellowed Jet.

Immediately, he began to toss kunai at the sea serpent, causing it to roar in pain. Those sharp knives really stung...though thankfully its scales helped to protect it from the assault.

This was then followed by Levy attacking the sea serpent using her shadow.

However, the sea creature knocked them away using its tail.

"This is one tough snake." noted Droy.

"Yes!" exclaimed Levy.

Sure enough, the sea serpent was beginning to spew an ice-cold breath...which froze Levy solid.

"Oh no! Jet!" bellowed Droy.

Immediately, he used his plant magic to wrap up the sea serpent's mouth so that it couldn't do again.

However, it was beginning to struggle.

Writing down the word "Fire", Levy was able to thaw out Jet.

"S-so c-cold..." murmured Jet as he began to shiver.

"Sorry that you got frozen." sympathized the letter mage.

"I h-hope that it d-doesn't happen again..." stated the speed mage.

"Me neither." nodded Levy.

"Make that three!" exclaimed Droy.

Immediately, he punched the sea serpent in the face, causing it to become rather...dizzy.

"On the plus side...I think we have an opportunity to attack it now." noted Levy.

This time, Jet tossed a paper bomb at the sea serpent...right when it opened its mouth.

The paper bomb exploded, causing the sea serpent to scream.

"Looks like we wounded it!" exclaimed Jet.

"Yes!" cheered Droy.

Levy then finished it off using Shikamaru's shadow strangle jutsu, causing it to collapse into the ocean.

"Well, hopefully we won't have to encounter another one of those." spoke the letter mage.

Droy and Jet concurred.

"Then again there might be more creatures like that in the water...I'm not rather familiar with this particular ocean." stated Levy.

"You're not?" asked Droy.

"I may be smart, but I'm not omniscient." answered the letter mage sheepishly.

"Well, that's true..." answered Jet. Nonetheless, people tended to call Levy a know-it-all regardless. Why exactly did she spend so much time reading books?

_Elsewhere outside the Tower Of Heaven..._

Unfortunately, it appeared that the zealots and the security guards were getting tired of Ino, Choji, and Happy's circus act.

In fact, they were starting to take action.

"We're bored with the circus! Give us something else!" exclaimed one of the knights.

Suddenly, he went up to them and deflated their circus tent with his sword, much to their surprise.

"Oh man!" bellowed Choji. There was no way that they were going to be able to inflate the circus tent again with that gaping hole in it.

It was a shame, considering that tent was a rental. Would they be able to pay it off?

"Hmm..." thought Ino. Was there something else that they could to stall for the team?

Immediately, the trio began to think of another thing that they could.

"Maybe we could start a play?" suggested Choji.

"What did you have in mind?" asked Ino.

"Romeo and Juliet, perhaps?" inquired Happy.

"Sure...but where are we going to find a stage?" questioned the kunoichi.

Fortunately, there appeared to be stage nearby that they could use.

"Now let's go get some costumes!" exclaimed Choji.

Ino began to cheer. She was looking forward to wearing a dress...especially in front of Choji.

"Who am I going to play?" asked Happy.

"Mercutio?" inquired Ino.

"But he dies a horrible death...his swordfight with Tybalt goes horribly wrong and he gets killed..." murmured the Exceed.

"Well, that's true..." nodded Choji.

"Do you want to play as Paris?" asked Ino curiously.

"But he's the villain...and he ends up dying too. Romeo stabs him to death with his sword." pouted Happy.

"Again, that's true." nodded Choji.

"Hmm..." thought Ino.

Shrugging, she wondered if Happy would like to play the role of the Prince.

Happy nodded.

And so, the trio of them began to perform the play. Thankfully, they memorized their lines pretty well so that none of the audience members would throw tomatoes at them.

Considering that there was an entire crate of tomatoes nearby, that wasn't a bad idea.

"What exactly were they going to do with those tomatoes anyway? Were they craving ketchup?" inquired Ino.

"Apparently. I'd like some ketchup myself..." noted Choji, rubbing his stomach.

"Maybe some catsup?" asked Happy.

"Very funny, Happy." answered the psychic kunoichi.

"What? I was being serious!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"Oh. Never mind then." spoke Ino.

Fortunately, Ino and Choji were able to create copies of themselves to play the roles of the other characters in the play.

Eventually, the play ended, and the audience members immediately applauded.

"Encore! Encore!" exclaimed one of the zealots.

Sure enough, the zealots and the guards both wanted them to do another play. They couldn't get enough of them, it seemed.

"So far we're doing a good job..." noted the kunoichi.

"But how long are we going to be able to keep this charade?" asked Choji.

Happy shrugged. The longer they distracted them, the better.

"Let's just keep going." stated Ino.

"Alright..." nodded the Akimichi clan member.

Once again, they began to perform.

"Should we do another Shakesphere play?" asked the psychic kunoichi.

"Yes!" bellowed one of the guards.

This time, they decided to perform Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark. That seemed as good of a play as any.

However, they weren't going to pour any poison in anyone's ears. That would suck, especially for them.

Instead, they poured root beer into Happy's big ears.

"My brain is freezing!" exclaimed the Exceed.

"Oh dear." murmured Ino.

"Are you...going to be OK?" inquired Choji.

"I...think so." answered Happy.

Ino and Choji both sighed in relief. Wouldn't want any unneccessary casualties.

_At the sewers..._

After taking out the sewer mutant (by whacking him on the head with a shovel), Gray and Juvia entered the basement.

"Sheesh...this basement is kind of creepy." noted Gray.

"I know..." nodded Juvia.

Personally, they wondered what exactly they were going to find in there.

"Stay alert!" warned the ice mage.

"Right, of course..." answered the water mage.

Fortunately, there didn't appear to be any guards around at the moment.

Juvia and Gray both sighed in relief.

In fact, the basement appeared to be completely deserted.

"Where did everybody go?" questioned the water mage.

Curious, they both began to wonder if they should turn back.

"Well, I don't think we can get any further." noted Gray.

"I guess not." answered Juvia.

By the looks of it, the basement was a dead end.

"Wait...shouldn't there be a staircase nearby?" questioned the ice mage.

Curious, the duo began to look around.

"I don't see anything..." stated Juvia.

"Hmm..." thought Gray.

Was there any way out of the basement? Or did they just have to go back the way they came?

Curious, they noticed that there was a tunnel nearby.

However, as soon as they entered it, the entrance to the tunnel collapsed.

"We're trapped!" screeched Juvia.

Gray let out a sigh. It looked like they were going to have to keep going.

"What is up with the basement?" inquired the ice mage.

"I don't know, but it gives me the creeps." said Juvia.

"Yeah...it disturbs me too." nodded Gray.

Apparently somebody forgot to turn on the air conditioning, because it was very cold in the basement.

Granted, Gray didn't feel it, but still.

Curious, they began to walk through the mysterious tunnel.

Oddly enough, there appeared to be a stage nearby.

"What's a stage doing in a place like this?" asked Juvia.

"I don't know." answered Gray.

Shrugging, Juvia noticed that there was a microphone nearby, and began to use it to sing.

"Fairy Tail is my pride and joy, oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!" sang the water mage.

Gray began to giggle.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said oh boy so much..." acknowledged Juvia.

Gray shrugged.

Fortunately, they didn't appear to have attracted any attention.

"How do we get out of here?" questioned the water mage.

"Maybe you could put me into your body and then transform into water to slip underneath the rubble?" asked Gray.

"That sounds like a plan." nodded Juvia.

Now that he thought of it...being Sakura's interdimensional partner did make him rather smart.

All of a sudden, his head was beginning to ache a bit.

Immediately, he rubbed his hand on his head in order to heal himself.

"That's better." answered Gray.

Oddly enough, he didn't seem to have inherited Sakura's large forehead.

Suddenly, he began to take his clothes off, causing Juvia to squeal.

"What?" asked the ice mage.

"You're taking your clothes off again! I feel like a kid at a candy store!" bellowed the water mage.

Gray sweatdropped as he began to put his clothes on again.

It was not a moment too soon, as he was wearing his Hello Exceed underpants this time.

"Why do I even wear those?" asked the ice mage. He wasn't even a fan of Hello Exceed. He thought that it was for little girls.

Maybe he could use them to pull a prank on Natsu.

Once again, Juvia began to sing.

"This may be a Tower Of Heaven...but it gives me a heart attack up to eleven." sang the former member of Phantom Lord.

Gray applauded Juvia.

"Thank you. Thank you very much." stated the water mage.

"Now you're mimicking Elvis Presley..." murmured the ice mage.

"I am? I thought Elvis was dead..." spoke Juvia.

"I'm a ghost now." murmured Elvis Presley.

"You're haunting the Tower Of Heaven?" inquired Gray.

"Yes, I am. Thank you very much." said the ghost of Elvis Presley.

"I wonder if Jellal knows about it." said Juvia.

Gray shrugged.

_Meanwhile..._

Erza and Naruto continued their way through the tower, unaware that they were being followed.

"Why do I get the feeling that something's after us?" asked the chunin.

Erza shrugged. So far they hadn't encountered anything...except for a few zealots and guards. She had cut through them like butter.

"What makes you say that?" questioned the S-Class Mage.

Suddenly, they began to hear the sound of a jetpack.

"Hmm?" asked Naruto.

As it turned out, it was none other than Dr. Usagi, who had found the opportunity that he was waiting for.

"Hahahahaha!" laughed the mad scientist.

Unsurprisingly, he wanted to recapture Erza and deliver her to his master.

"Vell, here I go!" exclaimed Dr. Usagi.

Setting the jetpack to max speed, he charged towards Erza as fast as he could, laughing maniacally as he did so.

Sure enough, he charged straight towards them, his hands outstretched to grab his intended target.

However, in his haste, he ended up grabbing the wrong person.

"Aah! Erza!" screamed Naruto as he was taken away.

"Naruto!" screeched Erza in horror.

Immediately, Dr. Usagi took him away using a conveniently open window.

"Oh no...they've got Naruto." stated the knight.

Quickly, she realized that she needed to rescue him from Jellal's clutches before anything bad happened.

However, at that very moment, she heard the sound of what appeared to be stomping.

"Hmm?" asked the knight.

"Fairy...Tail..." murmured a voice.

As it turned out, it was none other than Avenger...and he had chosen Erza as a victim since she happened to be an S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail.

Suddenly, he pulled out a rocket launcher and began to fire at her.

"Oh boy." murmured the knight.

Thankfully, she was able to avoid the rockets...though of course they exploded as soon as they came in contact with the floor.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm in some sort of horror movie?" questioned Erza.

"Horror...movies..." stated Avenger.

"You've heard of them too?" asked the knight.

Avenger shrugged as he pulled out a bloody chainsaw.

"Chainsaws are not to be played with!" bellowed Erza.

"Sorry." apologized Avenger as he swung it at her neck.

Rapidly, Erza jumped out of the way to avoid having her head removed from her sexy shoulders. She couldn't exactly rescue Naruto if she got decapitated, couldn't she?

Suddenly, Avenger attacked her with a tentacle, piercing her leg.

"Yeow!" bellowed the knight. Thankfully, she wasn't terribly injured...though her leg was starting to hurt nonetheless.

Fortunately, this did not cause Erza to get infected...as Avenger did not have a deadly disease on him.

Nonetheless, she was going to have to keep an eye on him at all times. He was genetically engineered specifically to deal with her and the rest of Fairy Tail after all.

Immediately, she requiped into her Flame Empress armor. She got the feeling that fire was going to be the best bet here.

If she lost against the mutant, he would inevitably go on to hunt down her friends...and basically they would be in strife.

She could not let that happen.

"For the sake of Naruto...I cannot surrender..." she thought.

As long as she was strong enough to protect the rest of Fairy Tail...she was rather satisfied.

What's a ferocious mutant if she had them backing her up?

_Meanwhile..._

"Well, I think the intruders have been in the tower for long enough." stated Jellal.

It was time to take some action.

Fortunately, Trinity Raven had arrived on the scene.

Immediately, Jellal's two bodyguards waved at them.

"What is your request?" asked Ikaruga.

"I need you to deal with some intruders." answered Jellal.

"Who do you want us to deal with?" inquired Fukuro.

"Well, Ikaruga...I suggest that you deal with the bone man since you happen to be the strongest of your team...Fukuro, you deal with the two fire dragonslayers...Vidaldus Taka, you deal with the ice and water mage..." stated the space mage.

Trinity Raven nodded as they went to hunt down their assigned targets.

"In the meantime, I'll be sending my friends after them too." said Jellal.

Sure enough, his friends were relaxing at a table, eating some food.

Immediately, he ordered them on his intercom.

"This is no time to stuff your faces. I need your help!" exclaimed the dark mage.

"Sure...what did you have in mind?" asked Simon.

"I just need you to deal with some intruders, that's all." stated Jellal.

"Intruders? You can count on us!" exclaimed Wally.

"Very good." answered the space mage.

"We'll make sure that they never bother you again." assured Sho.

"Meow!" squealed Millianna.

"Right...Simon, you deal with the blonde and the brunette...Wally, you deal with the trio that's trying to prevent me from receiving reinforcements...Sho, you make sure that the slaves stay where they belong...and Millianna...you can deal with the trio hosting a play since one of them happens to be an Exceed..." ordered Jellal.

The two demon bodyguards pulled out a picture with a skull and crossbones on it.

The foursome nodded, and they began to hunt down the Fairy Tail rescue team.

"Well, hopefully I've got things under control now." noted the space mage.

Curious, he noticed that Dr. Usagi had seemingly captured Erza, as he was carrying a metal barrel.

"Huh. Maybe I do." said Jellal.

Immediately, he sat in his chair, looking forward to the opportunity to bring back Zeref back from the dead.

Surely he would award him for his services, right? From what he had heard about him he actually wasn't that bad of a guy...once you got to know him.

"Everything is going to plan." he thought.

_Oh no! Naruto's been captured by Dr. Usagi! And Jellal's sending his friends (and Trinity Raven) to deal with the intruders..._

_In the next chapter...Erza and Naruto are going to battle Jellal's two bodyguards...you're looking forward to that, right?_


End file.
